Brother arrives to identify Azahari's body

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The younger brother of slain terrorist Azahari bin Husin arrived in Jakarta on Sunday to identify his body and make arrangements for its repatriation.

Bani Yamin bin Husin arrived at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 1:15 p.m. and immediately went to the Malaysian Embassy.

After meeting embassy officials, he was expected to go to the Sukanto Police Hospital in Kramatjati, East Jakarta, to identify Azahari's body, however he instead decided to appear in an interview session at TransTV.

Bani told the TV station that his main purpose in coming to Jakarta was to identify Azahari's body and bring it back to Malaysia once the police had given their permission.

He also explained that he and his family had not met with Azahari since Idul Fitri in 2001.

"We're both busy and we never talked about our private lives," he said.

Bani is expected to meet police on Monday and will then check on Azahari's body.

Azahari was one of the most wanted men in the Southeast Asia region for his role in some of its deadliest terror attacks. Azahari and his local operative Arman were killed during a police raid on their hideout, a villa in Malang, East Java, on Wednesday.

The Malaysian national, who held a doctorate from a university in Great Britain, was suspected to have masterminded major attacks on Western targets in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali blasts, which killed 202 people, mostly tourists. He was also believed to be a key member of the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah.

It is not clear whether Bani would request a DNA test to confirm the identity of the body, although police said earlier that based on fingerprint identification there was no need for a DNA test.

Certain people have expressed doubts whether the person killed during the Batu raid was really Azahari, who for the past three years had managed to slip through the fingers of police.

Earlier, police and government officials said that they would allow Azahari's relatives to claim his body only after they had completed a full autopsy.

In a related development, Malaysia's opposition Islamic party on Sunday condemned all acts of terrorism but urged the Indonesian authorities to show proof that Azahari was behind the terrorist bombings.

"We oppose all forms of violence," Abdul Hadi Awang, president of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS), said as quoted by AFP.

"I fear the allegations against Azahari are like the allegations made against Iraq having weapons of mass destruction.

"Until today there is no proof (of his involvement). We want a fair investigation. We should not be cowed by the U.S. which is carrying out its global agenda of imperialism," Abdul Hadi said.