SUICIDE BOMBERS with explosives strapped to their bodies were blamed yesterday for the carnage wreaked by three blasts that ripped through the restaurants and beaches of Bali.

Indonesian police investigators reached their conclusion after recovering what appeared to be the remains of three bombers, including a severed head, which they said could prove critical in identifying the culprits.

The news came as the death toll from the Saturday-night bombings reached 29. The attacks took place in the crowded hotspot of Kuta and the fishing village of Jimbaran Bay.

At least four foreign tourists were among the dead and more than 120 people, including two Britons, were wounded.

Neither Briton was named. One, a man, was discharged from hospital after treatment for minor injuries. The other, a woman with dual British and Australian nationality who is resident in Australia, was flown to Singapore for treatment, but her injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We have a team on the ground checking hotels, hospitals and mortuaries, but it appears so far that only two Britons have been injured.”

At the moment there are about 500 Britons on package holidays in Bali and an estimated 500 people travelling independently from Britain. Tony Blair condemned the bombings and expressed support yesterday for the Indonesian Government in its fight against terrorism.

If suicide bombers were responsible for the weekend blasts, they would be the first such attacks in Bali. The attacks took place almost three years to the day of the Kuta nightclub bombings, which killed 202 people, mostly Western tourists.

Authorities said yesterday that the latest bombings bore the hallmarks of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Islamist group blamed for the earlier bombings.

The same group is also thought to have been behind two suicide bombings in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, over the past two years, and police believe that they have now brought the tactic to Bali.

“We have reached a conclusion that these were suicide bombings,” Made Mangku Pastika, the Balinese police chief, said yesterday. “There is evidence that the explosive materials were attached to the body. There are pieces from either a jacket or a bag that were attached to the bodies. The pieces from their torsos spattered to all directions.”

He said that the hunt was on for other members of the group that orchestrated the bombings.

“What is clear is they number more than three . . . I am certain that there are others involved in this bombing. There are those who planned it, there were those making the arrangements, those preparing the bombs, and those are the ones we must search for.”

Last night investigators blamed a British-educated father of two, known as “the Demolition Man” for masterminding the weekend attacks. Azahari Husin, 46, who studied at Reading University, is alleged to have built the explosive devices used in the 2002 bombings on Bali and attacks on hotels and embassies.

The revelations are likely to increase pressure on President Yudhoyono of Indonesia to take further action against Islamist groups. On a visit to the bomb sites yesterday, he vowed to do more to protect the country against suicide bombers in particular, especially in the threat that they pose to tourist destinations such as Bali and neighbouring Lombok.

Saturday’s bombs, which were detonated as diners were sitting down to eat, appear to have killed far more Indonesians than foreigners. Four of the dead have been identified as foreigners: three Australians and one Japanese. Twelve have been identified as Indonesians.

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