The head of Australia's intelligence service claims there is no doubt al-Qaeda was involved in the Bali bombing.
The Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Mr Denis Richardson, made the statement at a rare public appearance to address a homeland security conference in Canberra.
Speaking of the terror group's involvement, Mr Richardson said: "Of that we can be certain. That was clear on September 11th and in Osama bin Laden's subsequent comments.
"Al-Qaeda's intent was unambiguous in bin Laden's statement of October 6th and al-Jazeera's interview of October 8th. We may never know if those statements foreshadowed Bali on October 12th but we can be confident that the hand of al-Qaeda is somewhere in that atrocity".
He warned of the consequences of al-Qaeda getting hold of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, as "they will seek to use them to devastating effect".Mr Richardson said: "That is not an alarmist comment. That is a measured assessment". He warned militants would patiently wait for their next chance to attack.
"Terrorists deliberately play on the fact that governments and communities worldwide grow tired of security measures and over time relax them.
"Too often, we forget that terrorists do not strike every day or every week - they strike infrequently, at times and places of their own choosing," he said.
PA