Azahari's run ends in deadly raid<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post
\nMalang\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Fugitive bombmaker Azahari bin Husin, who is blamed for three
\nmajor terror attacks in the country in the past three years, was
\nkilled in a police raid on a house believed to be his hideout in
\nthe hilly area of Batu in the East Java town of Malang on
\nWednesday, police say.<\/p>\n
Azahari's Malaysian compatriot Noordin M. Top, however,
\nescaped arrest.<\/p>\n
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said three terror suspects
\napparently blew themselves up following a shoot-out with the
\nantiterror police squad led by National Police deputy chief of
\ndetectives Insp. Gen. Gorries Mere.<\/p>\n
"Confirmation of Azahari's death can only be ascertained
\ntomorrow (Thursday)," Sutanto said. "We will make every effort to
\nidentify the three through the use of DNA and showing the bodies
\nto witnesses who know Azahari."<\/p>\n
He said, however, one man who was arrested in the raid
\nconfirmed that Azahari was killed. The man has been identified as
\nCH and was previously arrested in Semarang.<\/p>\n
Sutanto said CH led the police to Azahari's hideout in Batu.<\/p>\n
Police also arrested a man identified as Suwanji, a native of
\nSidoarjo in East Java, after he tried to escape.<\/p>\n
Senior journalist Karni Ilyas who was at the scene said two
\nmembers of the antiterror squad recognized the face of Azahari
\nalthough his body was in pieces.<\/p>\n
Karni told station ANteve that Azahari killed himself after a
\nshoot-out with the police. "He blew himself up together with the
\nhouse," said Karni, who is also ANteve's news chief editor.<\/p>\n
Sutanto said the exchange of fire started when the men refused
\nto surrender to the police.<\/p>\n
"They shot first and hit a police officer who was wounded," he
\nsaid, referring to Brig. Komaruddin.<\/p>\n
Local residents said the gun battle began without warning.<\/p>\n
Sutanto said there were 11 blasts, after the gunfight.<\/p>\n
"The last one appears to have been a suicide. They (the three)
\nall died."<\/p>\n
He said the bodies would be left in the house and police would
\nnot enter until any explosives were detonated by the bomb squad.<\/p>\n
Karni said that, apart from Azahari, one of the three men
\nkilled in the raid was a new recruit who had assembled the bomb
\nthat exploded in Raja's bar and restaurant in Kuta on the resort
\nisland of Bali on Oct. 1. Terrorists also attacked two
\nrestaurants in the Jimbaran area, also in Bali, that day.<\/p>\n
The National Police said on Wednesday they had identified two
\nof the three suicide bombers killed on Bali. The pair were
\nidentified by their initials as MN from Cilacap in Central Java
\nand MS from Majalengka, West Java.<\/p>\n
Azahari and Noordin are believed to have masterminded the
\nfirst bomb attack on Bali in 2002, the bombing of the J.W.
\nMarriott Hotel in South Jakarta in 2003 and the blast in front of
\nAustralian Embassy in South Jakarta in 2004. The three attacks
\nclaimed 225 lives in total.<\/p>\n
Believed to be in his mid-40s, Azahari, who holds a doctorate
\nfrom the University of Reading in Great Britain, is a top
\noperative of the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah terror network
\nthat aims to set up a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Central Java Police arrested on Wednesday evening
\nDwi Widiyanto, 30, for his alleged role in recent bombings across
\nthe country. Dwi, who is believed to be member of Azahari's
\ngroup, was arrested at his home in Pedurungan, Semarang.<\/p>\n
In the operation led by Semarang Police chief Sr. Comr.
\nSuhartono, the police also detained four people in the
\nneighborhood, including Dwi's father and stepfather. The other
\ntwo were Dwi's neighbors.<\/p>\n
The police arrested earlier in the day Puji in Genuk district,
\nSemarang. Puji was also accused of being an operative of Azahari.<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono directly received the
\nreport on the raid from Sutanto and is closely monitoring the
\nprogress of the investigation, presidential spokesman Andi
\nMallarangeng said.<\/p>\n
The President also ordered the chief security minister,
\nNational Police chief and East Java Police chief to take the
\nnecessary measures and enforce the law against terror suspects.<\/p>\n
In his directive, the President asked the three officials to
\ncoordinate and provide accurate information to the public.<\/p>",
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