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| Southeast Asia | |
| Top, Dulmatin now the top JI leaders with Azahari's demise | |
| 2005-11-11 | |
Indonesian police say Azahari was preparing new atrocities when he was cornered in West Java last Wednesday. Thirty freshly made bombs were found in the ruins of the house where police say he was shot before it was blown up. But the death of JI's most prolific and lethal bomb-maker does not mean the end of its vicious campaign. JI has shown itself to be sophisticated and resilient enough to withstand the arrest of key leaders and operatives, from commander-in-chief Hambali to spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir. No doubt it will prove that tenacity again. Key JI operatives who have proved every bit as deadly as Azahari remain at large. Among them is Azahari's fellow Malaysian and long-time partner, Noordin Mohammed Top, a science graduate from Azahari's alma mater, the University of Technology in Malaysia. Now aged 37, Top has played a major role alongside Azahari in all of JI's operations since the 2002 Bali bombings. A more reserved and shadowy figure than the garrulous Azahari, Top has attracted less public attention. But authorities believe his role in JI's atrocities has been just as crucial. Testimony from JI detainees shows Top's task is the recruitment and indoctrination of the young foot-soldiers who detonate the bombs. Sidney Jones, of the International Crisis Group, told a conference in Singapore in July that Top was even "more important than Azahari", describing Azahari as "the technician" and Top as the brains. Testimony from the men convicted over the Australian embassy bombing shows it was Top who chose the Australian mission as the target, recruited the operatives and oversaw preparation of the suicide bomber, Heri Golun, who drove the van packed with explosives to the embassy's gates. According to fellow militant Rois, recently sentenced to death for his part in the embassy bombing, Top revelled in his status. Rois told the Indonesian police of his first meeting with the notorious JI fugitive. "The talk began with him introducing himself as Noordin Mohammed Top and showing us a photo of himself in a newspaper as a person wanted by the police." And after the bombing, Top told his helpers to remain in West Java, "because we had other targets in Jakarta, God willing". Top was also the main recruiter and indoctrinator for the earlier bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta. One of the men he recruited gave evidence of a fanatical and desperate ideologue. The recruit, Sardona Siliwangi, told Indonesian police of one conversation with Top. "He told me once we are in the middle of enemies, so how can we remain calm. He said you have never suffered yourself, but I have felt how it feels being chased down. Just imagine, I was relaxing at home when suddenly someone knocked on my door. There was a good chance I was going to be killed or arrested. In such a condition, how can we be calm? We have to destroy our enemies before they destroy us." The group's other key bomb-maker is the elusive Indonesian known as Dulmatin, one of 14 aliases. Dulmatin is now based in the southern Philippines, where he has been hiding since escaping the Indonesian police dragnet after the 2002 Bali bombings. The US Government posted a $US10million ($13.7million) reward for Dulmatin last month, placing him at No 3 on Washington's most wanted terrorist list. Only Osama bin Laden and the Iraqi al-Qa'ida chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are worth more, at $US25million each. A former prize-winning maths student, described by his teachers as a genius, Dulmatin topped his explosives class in Afghanistan and became an instructor, passing on his expertise in bomb-making to dozens of other trainees. After returning to Indonesia, Dulmatin played a key role in every JI bombing, starting with its first attack - blowing up the car of the Philippine ambassador in Jakarta in August 2000. He also played a critical part in JI's first large-scale operation, the bombing of Christian churches across Indonesia on Chrismas Eve 2000. JI's chief commander Hambali gave Dulmatin the crucial task of making the timers for the dozens of bombs that exploded almost simultaneously, killing 19 people and injuring 120. Dulmatin helped Azahari to build the 2002 Bali bombs and is a suspect in JI's more recent operations. Since fleeing to The Philippines, Dulmatin has joined forces with the Abu Sayyaf guerilla group, an al-Qa'ida offshoot known for kidnapping and beheading hostages. Dulmatin works closely with Abu Sayyaf's leader, Khadaffy Janjalani. In return for safe haven in the areas controlled by Janjalani's group in the southern Philippines, JI has provided funding and training to the Abu Sayyaf recruits. This disturbing new alliance has helped to make the southern Philippines a major new front line in the war on terror. According to Philippine authorities, Dulmatin has provided JI funding and assistance for a string of terrorist attacks carried out by Abu Sayyaf, including the sinking of a Manila ferry in 2003 in which more than 100 people died and a series of bombings on Valentine's Day this year. Chilling new insights into Dulmatin's plans were revealed with the arrest this week of an accused militant named Ahmad Santos, founder of the Rajah Solaiman movement, a group of Muslim converts committed to violent jihad in The Philippines. Santos was in hiding with Dulmatin before his capture last Tuesday. According to the Philippine military, Santos revealed under interrogation that Dulmatin was planning to replicate the 2002 Bali bombings in Manila with an attack on a nightclub frequented by foreigners. "They were planning to put up a 1000-kilo explosive - the lethality of which is even worse than used in Bali," an army spokesman told reporters. The revelation underscored the stark warning issued by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: "Recent reports suggest terrorists may be in the final stages of planning an attack. Attacks could occur at any time anywhere in The Philippines." | |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |