Hundreds turned out to greet the controversial cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. He was visiting a madrassa in East Java to meet the family of two of the Bali bombers.

Mukhlas and Amrozi are brothers and they're about to be executed for their part in the deadly blasts in 2002.

They were taught at the Islamic boarding school and were said to have carried out the bombing while members of the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Bashir is thought to have been its spiritual leader.

[Abu Bakar Bashir, Muslim Cleric]:
"We are sad but we are also happy because when they are executed, they will die as heroes.”

202 people died in a series of bombings at two night clubs in Bali. Many of the victims were foreigners.

The three men convicted of the crime are awaiting execution at a high security jail. Last month Mukhlas said he was ready.

[Mukhlas, Bali Bomber]:
"People like me are ready to execute if it is Allah's will, and ready to be executed too. I don't care how we die, whether by injection or beheading, it is all the devil's methods.”

The authorities won't give a date for their death apart from saying they'll be shot simultaneously by firing squad in early November.

There are concerns their death will provoke militant anger in the predominately Muslim country. And security has been heightened at key places and foreign embassies ahead of the execution.

But several analysts have dismissed fears of widespread anger. Despite Bashir's best efforts they say most Indonesians have little sympathy for the violent methods of the Bali bombers.