Crowds gather for funeral of Azahari<\/p>\n
Agencies, Jasin, Malaysia\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Scores of people gathered at the family home of slain militant
\nbombmaker Azahari bin Husin in Malaysia's southern state of
\nMalacca state ahead of his burial on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Some 150 family members from throughout the country and local
\nvillagers flocked to the home where he was born, a typical Malay
\nwooden house surrounded by mango trees just outside the small
\ntown of Jasin, 150 kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
Some wept and hugged each other as they awaited the arrival of
\nhis remains from the Kuala Lumpur airport after a two-hour flight
\nfrom Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The body was flown from Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta International
\nAirport at around 3:45 p.m. on Thursday after Islamic rites were
\nperformed over it.<\/p>\n
Azahari's younger brother Bani Yamin bin Husin, accompanied by
\nseveral police officers from the Indonesian National Police
\nHeadquarters, came along in Flight 720 of Malaysian Airlines,
\nwhich carried the body.<\/p>\n
Bani, who led a prayer ceremony in Jakarta and cleaned the
\ncorpse in accordance with Islamic tradition, said Azahari would
\nbe buried at around 11 p.m. Malaysia time (10 p.m. Indonesian
\ntime).<\/p>\n
\"My brother was in fact the perpetrator of many terrorist acts
\nhere. Therefore, on behalf of the family, I sincerely apologize
\nto all Indonesian people and hope them to pray for his soul to be
\nforgiven by God,\" Bani said.<\/p>\n
Brother-in-law Jalil Mahpud, 51, said Azahari's body would be
\ntaken to the local mosque for prayers, then buried at a cemetery
\n500 meters from the family home where his mother and grandparents
\nare interned.<\/p>\n
Azahari, who is survived by his wife, two children, eight
\nyounger siblings and his 78-year-old father, will be buried in a
\nplot next to his mother Hijjah Awal, who died nine years earlier.
\n\"It is an honor for the family for Azahari to be buried next to
\nhis mother,\" Jalil told AFP.<\/p>\n
\"We will ask God to forgive him for any mistakes and he be
\ngranted a place in heaven,\" he said.<\/p>\n
One of Azahari's former university students, Hamidon Abdul
\nGhani, 38, said: \"I can't believe he was a terrorist. He always
\ntaught us to be good people.\"<\/p>\n
\"There was no indication that he was involved in terror
\nactivities. He never portrayed that he was an extremist,\" said
\nHamidon, adding that he prayed Azahari would earn a place in
\nheaven.<\/p>\n
Azahari's 13-year-old nephew Muhamad Muzakkir said his uncle
\n\"was a very loving person\".<\/p>\n
\"All the allegations are not true. He taught us to be brave,
\nhonest, and to abide by the teachings of Allah. I hope God will
\nbless him.\"<\/p>\n
Azahari, a former university lecturer who became a master
\nbombmaker and one of Asia's most wanted men, was killed in a
\nshootout with police in his hideout in Malang, East Java, on Nov.
\n9 after a huge hunt.<\/p>\n
He and his Malaysian compatriot Noordin Mohammad Top, both key
\nmembers of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah extremist
\nnetwork, have been blamed for a series of deadly blasts including
\nthe 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.<\/p>\n
Azahari allegedly received bomb-making training in the
\nsouthern Philippines in 1999, and advanced training in
\nAfghanistan in 2000. (Additional reporting by The Jakarta Post's
\nEva C. Komandjaja)<\/p>",
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