Police hunt down financial backer of Noordin's network

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Makassar

Police are currently looking for an East Java resident believed to be a financial backer of terrorist operations led by Noordin M. Top and the now dead Azahari bin Husin, as part of efforts to halt terror activities in the country and capture Noordin.

State news agency Antara quoted an intelligence source as saying that police were trying to locate the whereabouts of 34- year-old Edy Prayitno and were conducting close surveillance on many houses including that of Eddy's former wife in Madiun, East Java.

The woman, only identified as LS, claimed that she did not know where Edy was, saying that the last information she had was that the businessman had run away to Lampung, Sumatra.

Edy left his wife more than two years ago becoming an exporter of unskilled workers to Malaysia.

Madiun Police chief Sr. Comr. Ondang Sutarna refused to comment on the investigation saying that he had to confirm the information with his boss first.

The country's security authorities led by the National Police antiterror squad Detachment 88 are currently conducting a manhunt for Noordin and his followers. Noordin's partner in terror, Azahari, a bombmaker from Malaysia, was killed during a Nov. 9 raid in East Java. However, during a raid on the same day in the Central Java city of Semarang, Noordin managed to escape, raising concern that militants would still be capable of launching terror attacks. The two men had been accused of masterminding a series of bomb attacks.

Although the most recent information says that Noordin might still be hiding in Central Java, there is a possibility that he had also moved to Madiun, which is close to the Central Java border.

Separately in West Java, local police were carrying out a massive manhunt operation in the West Java-Central Java sea borders in a bid to find the Malaysian fugitive.

Using two speedboats owned by West Java's water police division, the officers conducted a thorough search of fishing boats owned by local fishermen and as well as several big ships sailing across the waters near Cirebon over the weekend.

Police officers scrutinized identity documents held by seamen and ship crew members in a bid to locate undercover terrorists aboard the ships.

"We were ordered by the West Java police chief to conduct the operation since there was information that Noordin and his followers were trying to enter West Java by sea," said Water Police operation division chief Comr. Suhermin.

Meanwhile in Makassar, South Sulawesi, an antiterror squad on Saturday arrested KS, suspected to be a member of a terrorist network, at his house.

Kota Besar police chief Sr. Comr. R.M. Kurniawan explained that KS was arrested because there were reports from the public that KS was involved in terrorist activities.

The police found a samurai sword, ammunition for 45mm weapon, as well as several documents and VCDs. The contents of the documents and VCDs have not been revealed.