Death of Azahari confirmed by tests
The Jakarta Post, Malang/Semarang/Surakarta/Jakarta
Fingerprinting has confirmed the death of Azahari bin Husin, a bombmaker blamed for the deadliest terror attacks in the region, during a gun battle with police.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said on Thursday the prints had proved Azahari was one of two terrorists killed during the raid on Wednesday night in a housing complex in Batu area, Malang. Azahari was either shot dead or killed when a fellow militant exploded a bomb.
Gen. Sutanto said the study of two comparative sets of Azahari's fingerprints proved them to be identical. Azahari's body was severed around the legs and the torso. The police said Azahari was apparently trying to blow himself up in the gun battle, but the "Demolition Man" was shot before he could detonate the bomb. Police earlier said they found 30 bombs inside the house located in the hilly area of Batu, Malang.
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.
Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika, who led investigations into both bombings on the island, said the raid had helped shed light into the latest bomb attack on Bali on Oct. 1, which killed 23 people, including three suicide bombers.
The two-star general said Azahari had definitely played a role in the bloody attack.
"It is clear there is a link, the Oct. 1 Bali bombings in Kuta and Jimbaran were conducted by this (East Java) group," he said, quoted as saying by AFP.
Police sources earlier said Arman, Azahari's operative who was reportedly killed during Wednesday's raid, was the bombmaker for the Kuta and Jimbaran attacks.
In a separate development, National Police Headquarters disclosed they had identified two of the three suicide bombers who perpetrated the Bali blasts in October.
The two were identified through DNA tests, said National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Budihardjo.
Meanwhile, soon after the death of Azahari was confirmed, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono congratulated the National Police for the successful raid. Through presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng, the President said the police should now focus on capturing Azahari's accomplice Noordin M. Top, who reportedly escaped police arrest on Wednesday in Semarang city, Central Java.
Separately in Semarang, the police's antiterror squad continued its investigation into Dwi Widiyanto, who was suspected to be one of Azahari operatives in Semarang. Dwi was reportedly arrested during a police raid on Wednesday in the city. A day later the police raided a house belonged to Dwi's father and two cell phone shops belonged to Dwi. The police took away several documents from the phone shops, including a book titled "Islam Needs a Strong Youth: Am I a Good Listener?."
Earlier, the police also discovered in Dwi's house in Kinibalu area in Semarang some documents, including a transcript of an interview between Osama bin Laden and a CNN reporter dated May 11, 1997 titled Osama bin Laden: Holy Terror.
Elsewhere, the National Police said on Thursday they would not pay out the billion-rupiah (US$100,000) reward promised last month for information leading to the arrest of Azahari. National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Sunarko DA said the bounty would be kept intact as the police tracked down the terrorist by themselves.
The reward is believed to be the largest ever offered by Indonesian Police, who pledged the same amount of cash for information leading to the capture of Azahari's suspected partner-in-crime, Noordin M. Top.
Azahari was tracked down as a "result of police analyses and investigations, so the reward does not apply," Sunarko told AFP.