BALI, Indonesia - With snipers watching and police helicopters buzzing overhead, hundreds gathered Tuesday at the site of the 2002 Bali bombings to mourn the 202 killed and to send a defiant message to the Islamic extremists behind the strike.

Most of those attending the sunbathed ceremony were Australian relatives of the victims or survivors of the Oct. 12 blasts. Several hundred tourists also were present.

Victims of the bombings at the two packed nightclubs came from 22 countries. Eighty-eight were Australians. Seven of the dead were Americans.

Similar memorial services were held across Australia and England.

"Two years ago terrorism touched Australia in a way that it never has before and we hope never again in the future," newly re-elected Prime Minister John Howard said at a solemn commemoration in Canberra.

The Bali ceremony proceeded despite last month's deadly suicide bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta and police warnings of more planned attacks.

Security measures also included armored vehicles that blocked the narrow lanes leading to the site in the heart of the island's tourist district.

Mourners filed past a monument engraved with the names of the dead close to the empty lots where the nightclubs once stood. They then tossed white flowers into a small pool as a traditional Balinese orchestra played.

"I have come back to pay my respects for the people who didn't come home," said Australian survivor Peter Hughes, who suffered serious burns in the attack.

Jemaah Islamiyah, a terror group with ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, was blamed for the embassy attack and the Bali blasts, as well as the Aug. 5, 2003, bombing at the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12.

"We are not only here united in our grief and sympathy but in our determination to eradicate this evil from our world," Australian Ambassador David Ritchie told the mourners. "I want to assure (Indonesian) President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and all Indonesians that we Australians will support you and be with you in this battle for as long you need."

Western governments hope that Yudhoyono, who takes office Oct. 20, will bring a more effective leadership in the fight against militants. The retired general coordinated the country's post-Bali terror crackdown.