Authorities turn attention to Malaysian bomber<\/p>\n
Jasbant Singh, Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
As governments on Friday celebrated the arrest of suspected al-
\nQaeda henchman Hambali, authorities are turning their attention
\nto a mild-mannered, bespectacled former teacher -- Southeast
\nAsia's new most wanted man.<\/p>\n
Azahari Husin, a 46-year-old former university lecturer in
\nengineering who studied in Australia and England, has been named
\nby Indonesia as the technical expert who built the sophisticated
\nbombs used in last year's attack on Bali island that killed 202
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Investigators say there are similarities between the
\ntechniques used in Bali blast and one last week at the JW
\nMarriott hotel in Jakarta, which killed 12 people, raising
\nsuspicions Azahari was involved in that attack, too.<\/p>\n
Azahari disappeared from his home in southern Malaysia in late
\n2001, just before authorities launched a crackdown on suspects
\nbelieved to be involved in an al-Qaeda-linked plot to bomb the
\nU.S., British, Australian, Israeli embassies and other Western
\ntargets in Singapore.<\/p>\n
Police nabbed scores of suspects in December 2001 and
\nsubsequent raids, but missed two key figures -- Azahari and
\nHambali, also known as Riduan Isamuddin.<\/p>\n
Before the 2001 crackdown, the two spent the previous decade
\nhelping build the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) network accused in a
\nstring of bomb attacks in Indonesia and the Philippines as well
\nas the Bali and JW Marriott blasts, and the Singapore plot.<\/p>\n
Hambali is also alleged to have strong ties to al-Qaeda, and
\narranged visits to Malaysia in 2000 for two of the hijackers in
\nSept. 11, 2001 attacks and other al-Qaeda operatives.<\/p>\n
Hambali was arrested on Monday in Thailand, Thai military
\nofficials said. U.S. President George W. Bush was among many
\nnational leaders who welcomed it as a victory in the fight
\nagainst terrorism.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, which shares borders with all of the other countries
\nwhere JI operates -- Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and the
\nPhilippines -- has played a key role in hunting Hambali, Azahari
\nand other suspects.<\/p>\n
"With the capture of Hambali, Azahari clearly has become the
\nprime target of the police manhunt for Jamaah Islamiyah
\noperatives in Southeast Asia," a senior Malaysian government
\nofficial told The Associated Press on Friday.<\/p>\n
"He is very dangerous as he is exceptionally well trained in
\nall types of bombs, especially remote-controlled explosives," the
\nofficial said, on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
One rival to Azahari's "most wanted" status could be Fathur
\nRohman Al-Ghozi, a convicted JI bombmaker who escaped last month
\nfrom a Philippines prison.
\nBut Malaysian officials say that if Azahari was involved in the
\nJakarta blast, it shows he has access to explosives and can carry
\nout attacks while on the run and therefore poses a greater
\nimmediate danger than Al-Ghozi.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's national police chief Norian Mai said on Friday
\nHambali's capture would likely help in the broader hunt for
\nterrorist suspects. The Malaysian official spoken to by AP said
\nthis could include "valuable tips" on Azahari's whereabouts.<\/p>\n
Police in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand were working
\nclosely to zero in on Azahari, he said.<\/p>\n
"Our intelligence shows that Azahari is using Indonesia as his
\nbase and in recent months he has traveled via Aceh to the
\nsouthern Thai province of Satun," the official said.<\/p>\n
Another Malaysian official, also speaking on condition of
\nanonymity, said that Azahari left behind a wife stricken with
\ncancer and two dependent children to devote himself to a campaign
\nof violence.<\/p>\n
"He is very committed to the Jamaah Islamiyah and has
\nreportedly told colleagues that he has submitted himself
\ncompletely to a jihad," or Islamic holy war, the official said.<\/p>\n
The Star newspaper reported on Friday that Azahari has changed
\nhis appearance and was last seen in May, sporting shoulder length
\nhair, in the Indonesian town of Pekanbaru on Sumatra island.<\/p>\n
Officials say he escaped capture when he left a militant
\nhangout minutes before it was raided by police.<\/p>\n
Azahari studied in Adelaide, Australia, in the mid-1970s but
\nfailed to complete his engineering degree, returning home in
\n1979. He then enrolled at a local university before leaving for
\nBritain in 1986 for further studies.<\/p>",
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