Indonesian militant leader confirmed dead

Armed police storm a hideout in a raid that leaves the militant leader Noordin Mohammed Top dead.

Armed Indonesian police stormed a militant hideout early today in a raid that killed fugitive terror mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top and three other militants, police said. Noordin's body was among four recovered after the early morning raid on a village house in Central Java, national police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri told reporters, bringing to an end an exhaustive six-year manhunt. "From national police doctors' examinations, antemortem (investigations) and finger prints sent by Malaysian police ... it's Noordin M Top," Mr Danuri said to applause. Loud explosions and gunfire were heard as police raided the rented house at around sunrise after a nine-hour siege on the outskirts of Solo city, a stronghold of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) radical network.

The raid left the simple house in the lush, densely populated region a burnt-out shell. Mr Danuri said police from an elite unit known as Special Detachment 88 launched the raid after interrogating two Noordin acolytes arrested nearby on Wednesday afternoon. "Despite repeated warnings to surrender there was a firefight. A motorcycle was hit, caught fire and they took refuge by huddling in the bathroom," Mr Danuri said. "But our men breached the wall as morning prayers came, at around 5 or 6am we carried out a quick operation in three hours and we managed to disable them." Mr Danuri said those killed along with Noordin were "expert bomb-maker" Bagus Budi Pranoto, alias Urwah, a close Noordin associate Ario Sudarso, alias Aji, and the tenant of the house, Susilo. He said two men were also arrested and Susilo's wife, who was wounded in the raid, was also in custody.

Police found 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of explosive powder already "prepared" by the militants as well as loaded M-16 assault rifles, laptops and surveillance equipment inside the house, he said. Noordin, a 41-year-old Malaysian who was South East Asia's most-wanted man, led a radical splinter faction of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network blamed for a string of deadly attacks. The offshoot, labelled al Qa'eda in the Malay Archipelago, is suspected of being behind the July 17 suicide attacks on Jakarta's JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels. The bombings, which killed seven people including six foreigners, were the first major attacks in Indonesia in nearly four years. "It's a major blow for terrorism in Indonesia generally. I think Noordin was the person most single-mindedly devoted to pursuing the al Qa'eda line in Indonesia," the International Crisis Group analyst Sidney Jones said.

"I don't think we can conclude that the problem is over and done with because there are a number of fugitives who are still at large, and some of whom could fill Noordin's shoes. Unquestionably, Noodin's network will be severely weakened but it may not disappear." Noordin allegedly also masterminded a 2003 attack on the Marriott that killed 12 people, as well as the Australian embassy bombing and 2005 attacks on tourist restaurants on the holiday island of Bali. *AFP