Azahari's run ends in deadly raid

The Jakarta Post Malang/Jakarta

Fugitive bombmaker Azahari bin Husin, who is blamed for three major terror attacks in the country in the past three years, was killed in a police raid on a house believed to be his hideout in the hilly area of Batu in the East Java town of Malang on Wednesday, police say.

Azahari's Malaysian compatriot Noordin M. Top, however, escaped arrest.

National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said three terror suspects apparently blew themselves up following a shoot-out with the antiterror police squad led by National Police deputy chief of detectives Insp. Gen. Gorries Mere.

"Confirmation of Azahari's death can only be ascertained tomorrow (Thursday)," Sutanto said. "We will make every effort to identify the three through the use of DNA and showing the bodies to witnesses who know Azahari."

He said, however, one man who was arrested in the raid confirmed that Azahari was killed. The man has been identified as CH and was previously arrested in Semarang.

Sutanto said CH led the police to Azahari's hideout in Batu.

Police also arrested a man identified as Suwanji, a native of Sidoarjo in East Java, after he tried to escape.

Senior journalist Karni Ilyas who was at the scene said two members of the antiterror squad recognized the face of Azahari although his body was in pieces.

Karni told station ANteve that Azahari killed himself after a shoot-out with the police. "He blew himself up together with the house," said Karni, who is also ANteve's news chief editor.

Sutanto said the exchange of fire started when the men refused to surrender to the police.

"They shot first and hit a police officer who was wounded," he said, referring to Brig. Komaruddin.

Local residents said the gun battle began without warning.

Sutanto said there were 11 blasts, after the gunfight.

"The last one appears to have been a suicide. They (the three) all died."

He said the bodies would be left in the house and police would not enter until any explosives were detonated by the bomb squad.

Karni said that, apart from Azahari, one of the three men killed in the raid was a new recruit who had assembled the bomb that exploded in Raja's bar and restaurant in Kuta on the resort island of Bali on Oct. 1. Terrorists also attacked two restaurants in the Jimbaran area, also in Bali, that day.

The National Police said on Wednesday they had identified two of the three suicide bombers killed on Bali. The pair were identified by their initials as MN from Cilacap in Central Java and MS from Majalengka, West Java.

Azahari and Noordin are believed to have masterminded the first bomb attack on Bali in 2002, the bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in South Jakarta in 2003 and the blast in front of Australian Embassy in South Jakarta in 2004. The three attacks claimed 225 lives in total.

Believed to be in his mid-40s, Azahari, who holds a doctorate from the University of Reading in Great Britain, is a top operative of the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah terror network that aims to set up a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, Central Java Police arrested on Wednesday evening Dwi Widiyanto, 30, for his alleged role in recent bombings across the country. Dwi, who is believed to be member of Azahari's group, was arrested at his home in Pedurungan, Semarang.

In the operation led by Semarang Police chief Sr. Comr. Suhartono, the police also detained four people in the neighborhood, including Dwi's father and stepfather. The other two were Dwi's neighbors.

The police arrested earlier in the day Puji in Genuk district, Semarang. Puji was also accused of being an operative of Azahari.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono directly received the report on the raid from Sutanto and is closely monitoring the progress of the investigation, presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said.

The President also ordered the chief security minister, National Police chief and East Java Police chief to take the necessary measures and enforce the law against terror suspects.

In his directive, the President asked the three officials to coordinate and provide accurate information to the public.