Militants elude Indonesian police hunt
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-08-03 11:26 JAKARTA - One of Asia's most
wanted militants may have eluded anti-terror teams despite a large manhunt in
East Java province, Indonesian police said on Thursday.
About 120 anti-terror police and troops combed villages in Mojokerto district
on Tuesday and Wednesday after residents complained of suspected activity by
several men in the hills.
"We haven't found anyone. If they are indeed people we are looking for, they
certainly have the ability to elude us," said national police spokesman Paulus
Purwoko.
He said villagers who traveled to the mountain had told police they often
encountered several men asking for food. One looked like Malaysian-born fugitive
terror suspect Noordin Top and spoke in a Malay accent, Purwoko said.
"We must not ignore this kind of information. With this operation we may be
able to flush them out of their hiding," he said.
Top is believed to be one of the masterminds of some of the deadliest
militant attacks in Indonesia in recent years, including last year's Bali
bombings that killed 20 people.
Analysts say Top was a key leader of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah
militant Islamic network, but may have split to form a more radical group.
Jemaah Islamiah has been blamed for a number of bombings in Indonesia,
including the October 2002 Bali attacks that killed 202 people.
Top's alleged accomplice and master bomb-maker, Azahari Husin, died last year
in a shootout with anti-terror police in his East Java hideout.
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