Bali

It's happened again. Almost three years to the day after the terrorist attacks against holiday resorts in Bali, bombs have once again shaken the island. The death toll currently stands at 30 with at least 50 injured and we can no doubt expect these figures to rise. We don't yet know who carried out the attacks, but the coordinated detonation of devices, the deliberate targetting of civillians and the lack of any warning fits the modus operandi of Islamic extremist groups and suspicion has fallen on Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah which reputedly has links with Al-Qaeda. I'm not really sure what can be said about this beyond the obvious. Three years and one war after the bombing of Jimbaran have we really moved forward? If so, I for one find it hard to see how or where.

That's not to say there haven't been any steps forward. Indeed one of them took place in Indonesia only weeks ago. In August the Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) negotiated a peace agreement which ended the war between the two which has raged on and off since the 1970s. Under the agreement hostilities came to an end, the Indonesian army reduced its force in the province and GAM pledged to disarm. International monitors have also been dispatched to oversee the peace process. It is to be hoped that the bombings and any response by the Indonesian government don't damage this process.