Two most wanted terrorist suspects still pose threat
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The top two most wanted terrorist suspects in the country, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd, are likely to carry out terrorist attacks while on the run, police told the press on Monday.
The National Police detective chief Com. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng said here Monday that based on the confessions of accomplices Tohir and Ismail, fugitives Azahari and Noordin could launch more attacks if they were assisted by other group members.
Both men are allegedly members of regional terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which is linked to Osama bin Laden's international terrorist group, al-Queda.
"Even though most of the suspects have been detained, they can recruit new members to help them carry out their actions," said Mappaseng.
Mappaseng said that both Azahari and Noordin had planned to bomb several places in Bandung, including one foreign bank on Jl. Asia-Africa, one of the busiest office buildings in the city.
"The place is not in Dago as I mentioned previously but on Jl. Asia-Africa. We have searched the area and other places. We cannot specify the places as people might panic," he said.
Both Azahari and Noordin narrowly escaped arrest at their rented rooms in Bandung, West Java, last Thursday. They are wanted for their alleged roles in two deadly terrorist attacks, the Bali bombings on Oct. 12, 2002 and the JW Marriott Hotel attack on Aug. 5, 2003.
Azahari, an expert in bomb-making, is believed to have masterminded the Bali bombings in which at least 202 people were killed and the JW Marriott Hotel bombing in which 12 people died.
The police have arrested around 100 extremists, including more than 30 implicated in the Bali bombings case and 12 in the Marriot attack.
The police also distributed new pictures of Noordin and the latest four sketches of Azahari. The pictures of Noordin were taken two weeks before the police raided the rented room on Jl. Kembangan, Bandung.
"The main (identifiable) characteristics of the two are their Malay dialects. Others, such as moustaches and beards can be hidden or cut. But Azahari must wear thick-lensed glasses because he can see without them," said Mappaseng.
Mappaseng said that the explosive that the fugitives were carrying were not powerful enough to carry out large-scale attacks. They said that the police had already uncovered powerful bombs accounting for most of the explosive materials that the group were thought to have possessed.
"We found four bombs which were ready to explode and two that had been wired, and we found 3.5 kg of the total of 5 kg TNT that we believed they had left. They had used the 1.5 kg before, including what they strapped to their bodies," said Erwin.
"These materials are the only explosives left after their attacks on several places since 2000, including Bali and Hotel Marriott," added Erwin.
As part of the manhunt, security personnel have been deployed around Merak harbor in Serang, Banten since Saturday. The security personnel are equipped with metal detectors to check passengers.
Meanwhile at least 3,000 police personnel in Cirebon, the city in West Java where both Tohir and Ismail were nabbed by the police, have been ready to help hunt the fugitives and guard vital and strategic places on the East Java north coast.
The operation is also aimed at securing hotels, amusement centers and other places frequented by expatriates in Cirebon.
"Besides which, we will conduct spot-checks of public transport," said City Police chief Sr. Comr Sunaryono.
He also said that the police were patrolling the border between West Java and Central Java to stop the fugitives from crossing it.