Crowds gather for funeral of Azahari

Crowds gather for funeral of Azahari

Agencies, Jasin, Malaysia/Jakarta

Scores of people gathered at the family home of slain militant bombmaker Azahari bin Husin in Malaysia's southern state of Malacca state ahead of his burial on Thursday night.

Some 150 family members from throughout the country and local villagers flocked to the home where he was born, a typical Malay wooden house surrounded by mango trees just outside the small town of Jasin, 150 kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur.

Some wept and hugged each other as they awaited the arrival of his remains from the Kuala Lumpur airport after a two-hour flight from Jakarta.

The body was flown from Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta International Airport at around 3:45 p.m. on Thursday after Islamic rites were performed over it.

Azahari's younger brother Bani Yamin bin Husin, accompanied by several police officers from the Indonesian National Police Headquarters, came along in Flight 720 of Malaysian Airlines, which carried the body.

Bani, who led a prayer ceremony in Jakarta and cleaned the corpse in accordance with Islamic tradition, said Azahari would be buried at around 11 p.m. Malaysia time (10 p.m. Indonesian time).

"My brother was in fact the perpetrator of many terrorist acts here. Therefore, on behalf of the family, I sincerely apologize to all Indonesian people and hope them to pray for his soul to be forgiven by God," Bani said.

Brother-in-law Jalil Mahpud, 51, said Azahari's body would be taken to the local mosque for prayers, then buried at a cemetery 500 meters from the family home where his mother and grandparents are interned.

Azahari, who is survived by his wife, two children, eight younger siblings and his 78-year-old father, will be buried in a plot next to his mother Hijjah Awal, who died nine years earlier. "It is an honor for the family for Azahari to be buried next to his mother," Jalil told AFP.

"We will ask God to forgive him for any mistakes and he be granted a place in heaven," he said.

One of Azahari's former university students, Hamidon Abdul Ghani, 38, said: "I can't believe he was a terrorist. He always taught us to be good people."

"There was no indication that he was involved in terror activities. He never portrayed that he was an extremist," said Hamidon, adding that he prayed Azahari would earn a place in heaven.

Azahari's 13-year-old nephew Muhamad Muzakkir said his uncle "was a very loving person".

"All the allegations are not true. He taught us to be brave, honest, and to abide by the teachings of Allah. I hope God will bless him."

Azahari, a former university lecturer who became a master bombmaker and one of Asia's most wanted men, was killed in a shootout with police in his hideout in Malang, East Java, on Nov. 9 after a huge hunt.

He and his Malaysian compatriot Noordin Mohammad Top, both key members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah extremist network, have been blamed for a series of deadly blasts including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

Azahari allegedly received bomb-making training in the southern Philippines in 1999, and advanced training in Afghanistan in 2000. (Additional reporting by The Jakarta Post's Eva C. Komandjaja)