Howard under fire from bomb victim relatives
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has faced an angry barrage of reporters and relatives during a public address in Bali.
Mr Howard defended the length of time it was taking to release bodies for repatriation and repeated his claim that Australia did not know of any specific attack on the holiday island.
The British, US and New Zealand Governments had all agreed that there was not sufficient evidence to issue a warning to travellers, he said.
He strongly urged visitors and ex-patriots to leave Indonesia as the threat to westerners had significantly increased.
"The situation is a lot more dangerous than it was, short-term visitors should go back home as soon as possible," he said.
The Prime Minister rejected claims that the bombing had been aimed at Australians because of his strong stance on terrorism.
"I do not accept that," he said. "People who think that terrorism and terrorists have some kind of hierarchy according to what is said - that is just not borne out by history."
Half-way through the press conference he was interrupted by distraught relatives desperate to claim the bodies of their loved ones.
Andrew Taylor said his 19-year-old niece Angela Golotta from Adelaide had been identified in the mortuary a few days ago and her body was still not allowed to be flown home.
"My niece is lying in the morgue, she has been identified by her parents and we want to take her home," he said. Mr Howard empathised with the man but said he just could not give a date for when the body would be released.
