The Jakarta Post, 12/30/2005 6:34:28 PM
Top terror suspect Noordin behind gem shop heist: Police
JAKARTA (AFP): Elusive Malaysian terror suspect Noordin Mohammad Top was
behind a fatal jewelry store heist in Yogyakarta province earlier this month, police said
Friday.
The armed gang which raided the shop in the tourist town of Yogyakarta, killing the
store owner and his assistant before fleeing with nearly five kilograms of jewelry, was
recruited by Noordin, a senior officer said.
"Based on police investigations, there are indications that the gold store robbery in
Yogyakarta was carried out by Noordin M. Top's group," said Indonesia's top
detective, Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara.
Makbul said bullet casings found at the robbery matched those found after a shootout
between police and Noordin's top accomplice, Azahari Husin, in his East Java
hideaway last month.
But he refused to say whether the robbery was motivated by the militants' attempt to
fund themselves for future attacks in Indonesia.
Azahari died in the shootout but Noordin remains at large after he managed to escape
during a separate raid in Central Java last month.
Indonesia's intelligence chief Syamsir Siregar on Wednesday warned that Azahari's
death could trigger revenge attacks and kidnappings for ransom.
Before his death, Azahari and Noordin had recruited an unspecified number of trained
militants who were "capable of carrying out their jobs without being ordered by the
two" Siregar said.
He also warned the extremists could turn to kidnapping for ransom to fund their
activities.
Police and troops in the world's most populous Muslim nation have already been on
high alert over the Christmas-New Year period amid fears of reprisal attacks following
Azahari's death. Azahari and Noordin were key members of the
al-Qaeda-linkedJamaah Islamiyah (JI) Islamic extremist network, blamed for the 2002
Bali bombings which killed 202 people as well as a string of other attacks in
Indonesia.
Both are believed to have formed their own force after splitting from JI's mainstream
command structure, which is concerned about heavy Muslim casualties in deadly JI
blasts in recent years.
Documents found in Azahari's East Java hideaway also indicated that extremists were
planning attacks over the holiday period. (***)
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