Investigators hunted for clues on Tuesday to the planners of the Bali bomb explosions that both Indonesia and U.S. President George Bush have linked to al Qaeda. Bush said in Washington that the explosions that killed more than 180 people, mostly foreign tourists, on the resort island on Saturday appeared to be part of a new global pattern of attacks which he vowed to stop.

"The attack in Bali appears to be an al Qaeda-type terrorist -- definitely a terrorist attack, whether it's al Qaeda-related or not, I would assume it is," Bush said.

Investigators from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Australia and Indonesia were working together to find the clues to the blasts on Bali's Kuta beach, a playground for Australians who flock to its beaches for the sun and surf.

A U.S. intelligence official told Reuters the Bali bombings pointed to a "sophisticated" terrorist group because of the large amount of high explosives used and the coordinated attacks.

Indonesian and Australian officials said on Tuesday relatives will find it difficult to identify the bodies quickly as many of them were badly charred.

A large number of Indonesians were among the dead, many of whom have yet to be identified.

Other nationalities among the dead and more than 300 wounded were Singaporeans, Britons, Americans, Swedes, Swiss and Dutch.

An Australian official said 22 of around 40 bodies identified so far were of Australians. They said around 160 Australians were unaccounted for.

As the U.S. ordered the evacuation of embassy staff from Indonesia and frightened tourists fled Bali, Indonesian officials strove to show they were serious about tackling terrorism.

Police indicated the first breakthrough in an investigation into the blasts by saying they had names of individuals connected to the attacks.

Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djalil, seeking to head off criticism from the United States and Asian neighbors that Jakarta had been soft on Islamic militants, drew a connection between al Qaeda and the attacks on the nightclubs.

He said the explosions were the work of professionals. That is why, he said, "I am not afraid to say, though many have refused to say, that an al Qaeda network exists in Indonesia."

"I am convinced that there is a domestic link with al Qaeda."

Bush cited the Bali bombings, the attack on a French supertanker off the coast of Yemen and attacks on U.S. Marines in Kuwait as part of what appeared to be a concerted approach by the organization blamed for the September 11 attacks.

"And therefore, it does look like a pattern of attacks that the enemy, albeit on the run, is trying to once again frighten and kill freedom-loving people," he told reporters.

PHOTO CAPTION

Australian national flags fly at half staff atop of the Sydney harbour Bridge in a mark of respect for those killed in a bomb blast on the weekend October 15, 2002. Australian authorities said on Tuesday 22 Australians were now on the list of confirmed or likely dead following the weekend bombings in Bali but the final toll was expected to be much higher with 160 still missing. REUTERS/Mark Baker