Noordin's wife privy to terror plans: Police source

Noordin's wife privy to terror plans: Police source

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Munfiatun, alias Fitri, the detained wife of fugitive terror
suspect Noordin Moh. Top, could be charged with involvement in
the Sept. 9 bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, a
police source close to the investigation said on Sunday.

The source said Munfiatun had confessed to knowing about plans
for the blast, but did not report to police.

Malaysian national Noordin and accomplice Azhari bin Husin are
thought to have been behind the attack that killed at least 10
people.

"She said she knew everything about her husband and his
activities as well as the bombing, but did not report to police
because she said she loved him very much," the source told The
Jakarta Post.

He added Munfiatun was not opposed to Noordin's activities,
even after she found out that her husband was wanted by police
for terror attacks across the country.

Separately, National Police antiterror chief Brig. Gen.
Pranowo said on Sunday that Munfiatun was detained officially on
charges of hiding her Malaysian husband.

However, police had not yet gathered sufficient evidence to
declare her a suspect in the recent terror attack, he said.

The same source said although Munfiatun claimed she had no
contact with Noordin after she moved to Cikampek, the couple kept
in touch via email and telephone.

"So, she must know about Noordin's activities and whereabouts.
We hope we will at least be able to extract information on his
latest hiding place from her," the source said.

Article 13 of Antiterror Law No. 15/2003 stipulates that
anyone who deliberately helps a terror suspect, including hiding
them, is liable to a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Munfiatun met Noordin in June 2004 through a friend, Yati, and
Yati's husband Hasan. Noordin was calling himself Abdurrahman Auf
at the time, and Hasan apparently told Munfiatun that
"Abdurrahman" was a jihadist.

Noordin and Munfiatun were married in Surabaya, West Java, on
June 22, 2004.

Munfiatun, an agriculture graduate of Brawijaya University in
Malang, East Java, followed her husband around Central and West
Java before settling in Cikampek, West Java, where she teaches
Arabic at an Islamic school.

She was arrested on Sept. 22 in Subang, West Java, at a
friend's house.

The police hope to obtain information from the wives of terror
suspects that would lead to their capture.

According to a recent report from the International Crisis
Group (ICG), marriages have been used by members of Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI), a UN-listed terrorist network blamed for the Bali
bombings and the Marriott attack, to serve the interests of their
organization.

The ICG said that looking into the women of JI was crucial to
understanding the organization, the nature of its affiliations
and its ability to evade arrests, and that more information was
needed on the wives of all those arrested.

It is believed the Noordin-Azhari duo masterminded the
Australian Embassy bombing, the 2002 Bali blasts that killed 202
people and last year's JW Marriott Hotel attack, which claimed 12
lives.

Police said the two fugitives had recruited several new
suicide bombers, including those who carried out the Sept. 9
attack.

At least seven people have been declared suspects in the case,
and Heri Golun has been identified as the suicide bomber.