Azahari's terror cell like playing with tykes

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post/Batu, Malang

Who could have known that the two otherwise regular gents known to neighbors as Budi and Yahya would turn out to be terrorists bent on unleashing bombs throughout this country?

People still cannot believe it although one of them, Budi, alias Arman, was killed in the police raid on Wednesday here. Budi died alongside bombing mastermind Azahari bin Husin during the raid at their house in the Batu district of Malang, while Yahya, alias Cholil, had already been captured.

The public persona that Budi and Yahya projected was of warm, friendly fellows, as evidenced by the interviews on Friday with their neighbors in a middle-class housing complex.

"I can't believe they were terrorists. They were kind persons," said Solfan Effendi whose house is next to the one rented by Azahari.

Solfan recalled how he met Budi and Yahya in September when the two requested a favor. They asked if Solfan would mind feeding a water pipe from his house to theirs. "They said the tap water often stopped flowing into their house so they asked me for extra access to water," explained Solfan.

Impressed with their politeness, Solfan complied with their request. He also recalled how meticulous they were about cleaning up any mess resulting from the water pipe connections. Solfan also heard from neighbors how they had mingled similarly well with others.

The 40-year-old man was even more convinced of the good character of the two as they often showed sincerity toward his family. Once, they greeted Solfan as he was returning from a fishing trip.

"Did you get many fish, Sir? You are a terrific angler," Budi said a few weeks ago, as quoted by Solfan.

To repay their kind attentiveness, Solfan instructed his servant to deliver some fish to them when she was done cooking it.

The two were not only friendly to adults, but also to the neighborhood youngsters. Kevin Irawan, 10, Solfan's oldest child, was one of several children in the complex that the would-be terrorists had befriended. Although they had been living in the house for just a few months, they had often invited the neighborhood tykes over to visit them at the rented house.

Kevin recalled how he got to know them by playing badminton with his friend. After seeing Kevin regularly playing the game on the street, they asked to join in. From that moment, they became close friends and they even allowed Kevin to play inside their home.

According to Kevin, the house did not have much furniture. The boy said he noticed that there were at least two computers in the house, one of them was always turned on.

Chillingly, just a day before the memorable raid on Wednesday, Kevin was playing games inside their house and he accidentally looked into a room that had the door ajar. However, when Yahya saw him peering in, he swiftly slammed the door shut.

In order to shift Kevin's attention, the two asked Kevin to go out with them to Bukit Cemara Emas Tourist Resort, which is just a kilometer from their housing complex. "I was happy when playing with them. They were nice fellas," he recalled.

The neighbors' collective memory of them as nice gentlemen is in stark contrast to what they now know them to be -- some of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia. "Had I known they were terrorists, I would have prevented Kevin from playing with them," Solfan revealed.