Authorities turn attention to Malaysian bomber

Authorities turn attention to Malaysian bomber

Jasbant Singh, Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur

As governments on Friday celebrated the arrest of suspected al-
Qaeda henchman Hambali, authorities are turning their attention
to a mild-mannered, bespectacled former teacher -- Southeast
Asia's new most wanted man.

Azahari Husin, a 46-year-old former university lecturer in
engineering who studied in Australia and England, has been named
by Indonesia as the technical expert who built the sophisticated
bombs used in last year's attack on Bali island that killed 202
people.

Investigators say there are similarities between the
techniques used in Bali blast and one last week at the JW
Marriott hotel in Jakarta, which killed 12 people, raising
suspicions Azahari was involved in that attack, too.

Azahari disappeared from his home in southern Malaysia in late
2001, just before authorities launched a crackdown on suspects
believed to be involved in an al-Qaeda-linked plot to bomb the
U.S., British, Australian, Israeli embassies and other Western
targets in Singapore.

Police nabbed scores of suspects in December 2001 and
subsequent raids, but missed two key figures -- Azahari and
Hambali, also known as Riduan Isamuddin.

Before the 2001 crackdown, the two spent the previous decade
helping build the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) network accused in a
string of bomb attacks in Indonesia and the Philippines as well
as the Bali and JW Marriott blasts, and the Singapore plot.

Hambali is also alleged to have strong ties to al-Qaeda, and
arranged visits to Malaysia in 2000 for two of the hijackers in
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and other al-Qaeda operatives.

Hambali was arrested on Monday in Thailand, Thai military
officials said. U.S. President George W. Bush was among many
national leaders who welcomed it as a victory in the fight
against terrorism.

Malaysia, which shares borders with all of the other countries
where JI operates -- Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and the
Philippines -- has played a key role in hunting Hambali, Azahari
and other suspects.

"With the capture of Hambali, Azahari clearly has become the
prime target of the police manhunt for Jamaah Islamiyah
operatives in Southeast Asia," a senior Malaysian government
official told The Associated Press on Friday.

"He is very dangerous as he is exceptionally well trained in
all types of bombs, especially remote-controlled explosives," the
official said, on condition of anonymity.

One rival to Azahari's "most wanted" status could be Fathur
Rohman Al-Ghozi, a convicted JI bombmaker who escaped last month
from a Philippines prison.
But Malaysian officials say that if Azahari was involved in the
Jakarta blast, it shows he has access to explosives and can carry
out attacks while on the run and therefore poses a greater
immediate danger than Al-Ghozi.

Malaysia's national police chief Norian Mai said on Friday
Hambali's capture would likely help in the broader hunt for
terrorist suspects. The Malaysian official spoken to by AP said
this could include "valuable tips" on Azahari's whereabouts.

Police in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand were working
closely to zero in on Azahari, he said.

"Our intelligence shows that Azahari is using Indonesia as his
base and in recent months he has traveled via Aceh to the
southern Thai province of Satun," the official said.

Another Malaysian official, also speaking on condition of
anonymity, said that Azahari left behind a wife stricken with
cancer and two dependent children to devote himself to a campaign
of violence.

"He is very committed to the Jamaah Islamiyah and has
reportedly told colleagues that he has submitted himself
completely to a jihad," or Islamic holy war, the official said.

The Star newspaper reported on Friday that Azahari has changed
his appearance and was last seen in May, sporting shoulder length
hair, in the Indonesian town of Pekanbaru on Sumatra island.

Officials say he escaped capture when he left a militant
hangout minutes before it was raided by police.

Azahari studied in Adelaide, Australia, in the mid-1970s but
failed to complete his engineering degree, returning home in
1979. He then enrolled at a local university before leaving for
Britain in 1986 for further studies.