INDONESIAN police fear the terrorist masterminds of the Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta are planning deadly attacks every six months. They also say that al-Qaeda money was used by the South East Asia-based Jemaah Islamiah group to fund the September 9 blast as well as last year's Marriott Hotel suicide attack in the Indonesian capital. Police sources said Malaysian bomb maker Azahari Husin and bag man Noordin Mohammed Top were aiming to increase the tempo of attacks, which have claimed 223 lives since the Bali bombings of 2002. "If within six months they have no chances, then it will be done in the next six months," a senior police source was quoted today as saying by the Republika newspaper.
Azahari, the bespectacled British-trained geophysics professor, and Noordin are currently being hunted across Indonesia by US-trained anti-terrorist squads. The pair have escaped police dragnets twice before in the Java highlands. "Some snipers from police headquarters in Jakarta have already deployed in Yogyakarta," a police source said. Investigators believe Azahari might have fled there, while Noordin had headed for the central Java city of Bandung, the paper said. Azahari, a master of disguise, had chosen Yogyakarta because he knew the area well.
| Oh, Gawd. Masterminds™. Masters of Disguise™. Next up: International Men of Mystery™. |
It has a multicultural population of students and visitors, as well as a maze of narrow alleys, ideal for fleeing pursuing police.
| ... while holding the edge of one's cape over the face and laughing maniacally... |
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