KUTA (Indonesia): Minutes after a car bomb exploded outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta last year, the Malaysian militant known as the “Demolition Man” was stopped by a traffic cop. Azahari Husin, the master bomb-maker who allegedly helped carry out Indonesia’s last five major terror bombings, was speeding on a motorcycle from the scene of the blast, which killed 10 people and a suicide bomber. The officer did not recognize Azahari, one of Indonesia’s most wanted men. He paid a small bribe to avoid a ticket and continued on his way. It was one of at least five times the Indonesian police have nearly captured Azahari only to have him slip through their fingers, said Sidney Jones, a leading terror expert in Jakarta and analyst for the Brussels, Belgium-based International Crisis Group.
Now, four days after the triple suicide bombing of Bali restaurants that killed 19 people, police are frantically searching for Azahari and his confederate, Noordin Top, both leading members of the extremist Muslim group Jemaah Islamiah. While police have uncovered little physical evidence linking the pair to the bombing, the method of the attack is so similar to previous bombings that they are prime suspects.
“We know they are still at large and committed to undertaking these bombings,” Jones said. “If you have an explosion that involves suicide bombers, you have to put them high on your list.” In a speech on Wednesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the country’s inability to halt the bombings was harming its international standing and called on the Indonesian military to take a greater role in preventing future attacks.
“The terrorist acts have spoiled Indonesia’s reputation in the eyes of the world,” the retired general said in an address marking the 60th anniversary of the armed forces’ founding. Authorities believe that Azahari helped organize the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing that killed 202 people, the 2003 JW Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta that killed 12 and the Australian Embassy bombing in Sept 2004. Like Saturday’s restaurant bombings, all were suicide attacks.
Azahari, who has a Ph.D. in land management from the University of Reading in Britain, is believed to have overseen the manufacture of the bombs. Top, a charismatic recruiter, is believed to have helped organize financing for the attacks and lined up the suicide bombers. Azahari also allegedly participated in Christmas Eve 2000 church bombings across Indonesia that killed 19. Police have arrested 250 people for participating in the string of bombings, including much of Jemaah Islamiah’s original leadership.
Jones believes that the group has split into two factions: one believes in organizing the Islamic movement for a generation before engaging in violence, and the militant wing of Top and Azahari believes the time for violence is now. The militant faction is closely allied with the Banten Group, named after a district in Java, whose members have participated in several of the bombings.
“We are dealing with teams put together by personal connections,” Jones said, “not necessarily organizational networks.” Police, who released photos of the three dead suspects in Saturday’s attack in the hope people would come forward and identify them, said they received a call from a man identifying one of the bombers as Gareng from the central Java city of Solo.
Investigators also have shown the photos to Jemaah Islamiah members convicted in earlier attacks but none acknowledged knowing the men, suggesting that the three were recent recruits. Among those shown the photos were Amrozi Nurhasyim and Imam Samudra, who were sentenced to death for their part in the Bali nightclub bombings. “We are asking them whether they recognize these people or not,” said Bali Police Chief I Made Mangku Pastika. “So far the detained terrorists do not know them.” Police say searches of the crime scenes have yielded shredded backpacks and clothing, ball bearings intended to make the bombs more deadly, wire, pieces of detonator and parts of a plastic food container apparently used to hold explosives. They also have recovered a nine-volt battery from each crime scene. The batteries are said to be a trademark of Azahari’s bombs. Ali Imron, a former Jemaah Islamiah member who is serving a life sentence for his role in the nightclub bombing but is cooperating with police, collaborated with Azahari in 2002 and believes the Malaysian is behind the restaurant bombings. “I heard that they found a 9-volt battery at the crime scene,” Imron told the Jawa Pos, an Indonesian newspaper. “If that’s true, then my prediction is true. A 9-volt battery is Azahari’s characteristic.” Imron said Azahari could have been at one of the restaurants on Saturday because he always waited to watch his bombs explode.
Azahari and Top have become masters of disguise, Jones said. They usually travel by motorcycle and, wearing helmets, are easily lost in the throng of motorcyclists on Indonesian roads. Sometimes they stay in a place for a few days, sometimes for a month. —Dawn/LAT-WP News Service
