Is Indonesia's Most-Wanted Man Alive After All?

The suspense continued as the week began. There were fears that Southeast Asia’s top suspected terrorist could well be at large. There were contradictory reports from the police and anti-terror units in Indonesia.

A body riddled with bullets and shrapnel had been dragged out of a remote farmhouse on Saturday after a shootout that lasted hours on Saturday and at first it was thought it was Noordin’s.

However, Sidney Jones, a security analyst with International Crisis Group, said that the pictures of the dead man did not resemble him.

The Indonesian terrorism expert Wawan Purwanto thought it was too early to tell: “Facial features can be altered -- that’s not a final proof. Noordin has always been very good at changing his external appearance. We have to wait for the results from the DNA test. Then we’ll find out if it’s him or not.”

A team from the Disaster Victim Identification unit apparently took a sample from Noordin’s father to make a comparison but another security official said that the DNA test was just a formality and fingerprint analyses had already confirmed that the body was not the sought-after terrorist.

40-year-old terrorist blamed for recent Jakarta blasts

Noordin Mohammed Top is the self-proclaimed leader of an offshoot of the regional terror organisation Jemaah Islamiyah that he has named “al-Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago".

The 40-year-old is accused of being behind a series of attacks in Southeast Asia in recent years that have killed some 50 people and injured hundreds.

He is blamed for the recent attacks on the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Nine people were killed, including six foreigners and the bombings, in the twin blasts on July 17. that experts believe was his first major attack since 2005.

In recent days, five of his presumed associates have been arrested. One of them -- Amir Abdallah -- apparently gave information about the hideout that police besieged on Friday night.

He also told police that Noordin had planned to assassinate Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as revenge for the execution of three militants who were convicted for their involvement with the Bali bombings of 2002. The attack was supposed to coincide with Indonesia’s Independence Day on Aug. 17.

“If this killed terrorist is Noordin Top,” said Bambang Widodo Umar, a security expert, “then the number of terrorist activities and attacks is going to decrease in the near future. But the risk of terrorism still remains very high in Indonesia. The weaknesses of our social system are the problem. That’s why extremist organisations keep getting new recruits.”

Noordin is a master of evasion

New recruits are apparently drawn to the air of mystery that seems to surround Noordin. His legend grows among his followers every time he manages to evade the police. There have been two unsuccessful armed assaults on his hideouts before.

It will be embarrassing for the police if Noordin has escaped again.

On Monday, a source in the counter-terrorist police unit was quoted as saying that Noordin might have escaped from the house that was besieged on Friday if he was ever in it at all.

Until the DNA results are out, there will be no telling if Noordin is the dead man. If they are found to be negative, terrorism is not likely to wane in the region.

Author: Anne Thomas
Editor: Disha Uppal