With cries of "Kill them, Kill them!" an angry crowd marked the third anniversary of the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings by storming a prison in Indonesia where three men convicted of the attacks were being held.

Armed police intervened as a group of between 500 and 1,000 protestors - wearing traditional Balinese headscarves and sarongs - climbed the outer fence of the aging Kerobokan prison in the island's capital Denpasar.

Others tore the steel prison door from its hinges, according to the AFP news agency. A correspondent for Reuters described how protesters reached the access door to the main cells, chanting "Kill Amrozi! Kill! Kill! Kill! ... We have been waiting for three years."

Prison officials said that the three men - Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and his brother Ali Ghufron who have been sentenced to death for their roles in the 2002 blasts - were transferred from the city's prison to an island jail off Java on Tuesday.

The violence was defused by police and the arrival of a group of traditional musicians from a nearby village. The chanting, and drum-beating continued.

One demonstrator tied a banner on the prison wall reading: "Hello SBY [Indonesia’s president Susilo Bambang Yudyoyono]. Kill the person who has hurt Bali."

The three Islamic militants have been on death row since 2003. Calls for their immediate execution have intensified amid rising public anger at the fresh wave of attacks on October 1.

Later, armed police mingled with mourners at a ceremonyheld to commemorate the 202 people killed when bombs destroyed the packed Sari nightclub and neighbouring Paddy's Bar on October 12, 2002.

Some members of the crowd said they had received an anonymous mobile phone message about four days ago, calling on protesters to assemble at the jail.

Most, however, were locals who have suffered from the devastation the bombings have caused to the island's tourist industry.

"I knew of the protest from my friends but what is important is that I came here of my own free will," said Arya, a motorcycle taxi driver.

Natalie Juniardi lost her Indonesian husband while she was three months pregnant with her second son.

"After the last bombing, it’s been hard," said Mrs Juniardi, who owns a surf shop in Kuta and has seen her sales plummet since the latest attacks.

She echoed the concerns of many of those who gathered: "We all want them to go as soon as possible, so we can get on with our lives, and not worry about them."

Authorities have blamed Jemaah Islamiah, seen as the regional arm of al-Qaeda, for the 2002 blasts. Suspicion has also fallen on this or a splinter group for three suicide bombings at crowded restaurants on October 1.

* Indonesian police yesterday made their first arrest over this month’s suicide blasts on Bali, picking up a man believed to have shared a house with one of the bombers.

Deputy police spokes-man Soenarko Artanto said that the man, a construction worker identified only by the initials HS, was arrested in East Java on Sunday and brought to Bali on Monday.

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Indian Army spends10m rupees on golf buggies
• Brüno toned down for 15 rating