Bali and tolerance

I visited Bali only four weeks ago and during my stay I read your paper regularly. I was impressed by the quality of your reporting and your concern for human rights.

I enjoyed my holiday very much and, despite sometimes being hassled by the crowds of traders, I loved the natural friendliness and the tolerance of the Balinese people and I am afraid that it is exactly this tolerance that the terrorists' bombs are directed against.

I remember reading in your paper about churches being closed illegally, about doctors arrested because they practiced and promoted healing methods that were supposed to be against Islam, all this is tolerated by your so-called moderate government.

So it seems that the prosperity and the public attention gained by the tourism industry is the only chance for the Balinese culture to survive in a Muslim-dominated state, and the terrorists know this.

A few death penalties will not stop them. It is time for truly humane and moderate Muslim leaders -- I hope there are some left -- to speak up openly for peace and tolerance between religions, not only for economic reasons.

Deny the terrorists ideological justifications by making it clear that everyone has the right to practice their own religion. Terrorism can only survive as long as large numbers of people mentally support their aims, although they may not approve of their means.

We -- the foreign visitors -- can spend our holidays elsewhere, though regretfully. But what will happen to Indonesia?

HERWIG LUDERER, Tibingen, Germany