Who is Noordin Mohammed Top?

RADICAL Islamist Noordin Mohammed Top, the man accused of a series of suicide bombings in Indonesia, is one of Asia's most-wanted and elusive militant leaders.

But his long and bloody game of cat-and-mouse with Indonesia's US-trained elite counter-terrorism forces may have come to an end in a storm of gunfire during a raid on a suspected hideout in Central Java today.

His death has been reported by local television but police would confirm only that they believed the 40-year-old former accountant was hiding in the house when it was besieged by security forces late yesterday.

At least three people are known to have died in the subsequent shootout, none of whom have been identified.

Last month's attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels were the latest to bear the hallmarks of Noordin, leader of the most violent spin-off of the Jemaah Islamiah regional terrorist network, police have said.

The self-proclaimed leader of ``al-Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago'' received funding from the real al-Qaeda via an intermediary to launch his first attack in 2003, but his current links to Osama bin Laden's group are unknown.

Even so she shares the same visions of global jihad, or ``holy war,'' against the US and its allies as a counter-strike to the perceived oppression of Muslims by the West.

Police have accused Noordin of masterminding attacks on Jakarta's Marriott hotel that killed 12 people in 2003, the 2004 strike on the Australian embassy in the capital that killed 10 and the 2005 bombings in Bali that killed 20.

Noordin's ability to elude police using a loose network of sympathetic Islamists and extended family connections has cast a shadow over largely successful Indonesian efforts to wind back militancy.

Previously...

Note: Photos included.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/index.cfm?page=Noordin&language=english

Wanted
Noordin Mohammad Top

Date of Birth : August 11, 1968
Place of Birth : Johor, Malaysia
Sex : Male
Nationality : Malaysian
Aliases : Noordin Muh Top, Noordin Mat Top, Noordin Din Moch Top

Noordin Mohammad Top is one of the most dangerous members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). He is believed to be a top recruiter, strategist, and fundraiser for JI.

Despite being one of the top targets of regional security forces, Noordin has repeatedly escaped their grasp. A Malaysian national, he and Dr. Azahari bin Husin were the masterminds behind several suicide attacks in Indonesia, including the Bali bombings in October of 2005 that injured several Americans. Noordin is also suspected of having orchestrated several other terrorist attacks in Indonesia, including the October 12, 2002 Bali attack, which killed 202 people and injured 209; the August 5, 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta, Indonesia; and the September 9, 2004 bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, which killed several individuals and wounded over 140 others.

Noordin has been the leading proponent of targeting Western interests in Indonesia. In addition to the two Bali and two Jakarta attacks, Noordin has ordered his operatives to conduct reconnaissance on a large foreign-owned power plant southeast of Surabaya. In January 2006, he announced the formation of a new organization, Tanzim Qa’idat al-Jihad, although it is still unclear whether this is a distinctly independent organization from JI.

Noordin has been designated by the U.S. Treasury Department and the UN Security Council as a terrorist financier. He remains one of the most important JI figures at large. He is a charismatic leader and a recruiter, and has proven to be innovative and single-minded in his desire to implement the al-Qa’ida line and target Western interests.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/multimedia/JI_raids_Indonesia_080720/index.html

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/08/noordin_mohammed_top.php

PHOTO CAPTION: “Latest police sketch of wanted terrorist Noordin Mohammed Top, who was killed during a raid in central Java in Indonesia. Click image for more pictures from the raid that killed top.”

“Noordin Mohammed Top dead, major attack averted”
By NICK GRACEAugust 7, 2009 9:07 PM

SNIPPET: “Noordin Mohammed Top, Asia’s most wanted terrorist, committed suicide after a 12-hour standoff with Indonesian police in a remote farm house in Central Java.

Police made visual confirmation of Top through cameras attached to remote control robots that were deployed into the house and watched as he fled into a bathroom and, surrounded by a woman and three children, blew himself up, Metro TV reported. The explosion occurred at 8 AM Saturday local-time (9 PM EDT Friday) and was carried on live television.

Top was a senior leader in Jemaah Islamiyah and was originally from Malaysia. He was known as a top recruiter, strategist, and fundraiser, and was behind the most deadly terror attacks in Indonesia. He masterminded the October 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people and injured 209; the August 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta; the September 2004 bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta; and the October 2005 Bali bombings. He split from Jemaah Islamiyah in late 2005 after disagreement over the use of violence with other leaders and became the emir of Tandzim al-Qaedat Indonesia. While ties between Top’s group and al Qaeda have not yet been confirmed, his group has run Web forums that have collaborated with Jihadi forums known to be associated with al Qaeda. One such forum released an Indonesian-language propaganda video with the well-known al-Ekhlaas Forum in early 2008.”

PHOTO: Body bag.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00599/Bomb385_599350a.jpg

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6788699.ece

August 9, 2009
“Elite squad guns down Bali bomb mastermind”

SNIPPET: “AN ELITE Indonesian police squad has killed a man believed to be the most wanted Islamic militant in southeast Asia, Noordin Mohammad Top, who was linked to bombings in Jakarta and on the island of Bali.

Officers of Detachment 88 stormed a house amid green rice paddies in central Java yesterday morning, using robot cameras to find their target as they blasted from room to room with grenades.

The man made a last stand inside the bathroom as walls shattered around him, screaming out the name, “Noordin Top”, before black-clad marksmen fired volleys of shots into the room, witnesses said.

It was the climax to a 17-hour siege that followed a swoop on militants in the town of Temanggung, 250 miles southeast of Jakarta.
After several exchanges of gunfire, there was a lull overnight. Shortly before 8am yesterday, heavy firing and explosions could be heard. It was almost two hours before the shooting stopped.

At least one body was seen by reporters being dragged from the house and placed in a makeshift coffin. Two more were put into body bags.

There appears to have been no effort to negotiate a surrender with the suspect. Top, who was 40, had vowed to go down fighting and had pledged that his death would be bloodily avenged.

A formal identification of Top’s body has yet to be made. Police said last night they would conduct a DNA test before confirming his identity.

If verified, his death would be a blow to a network of violent extremists that has wreaked havoc with suicide bombings across the world’s most populous Islamic nation.”

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/08/indonesian_police_ve.php

“Indonesian police “very confident” Noordin M. Top dead”
By NICK GRACEAugust 10, 2009 12:15 AM

SNIPPET: “Indonesian authorities are “very confident” that the man killed during a dramatic 17-hour standoff Saturday morning is wanted terrorist Noordin Mohammed Top.

“We had this person under surveillance for a week and followed him wherever he went,” a source inside the investigation told the daily Kompas. “We created a detailed profile on him. We knew where he went and what he ate. We even knew that he always slept in cemeteries.”

The source said Noordin shied away from cell phones but left an electronic trail on the Internet, which led them to his trusted courier: the nephew of the man whose home was at the center of the standoff, Indra Arif Hermawan , who is also known as Arif and Indra. “The courier that became Noordin’s communications lifeline was Arif. He was picked up before police descended on the house in Temanggung.”

Arif and his brother Aris Susanto, also known as Hendra, worked at a motorcycle repair shop in Temanggung and were already known to authorities. Their cousin, Tataq Lusiyanto, was detained in 2006 for involvement in the 2003 JW Marriott bombing. Tataq’s father, Mudjahri , owned the farm house and is also under suspicion of supporting the hardline Jemaah Islamiyah network.”

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http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/08/mystery_over_noordin.php

“Mystery over Noordin Mohammed Top thickens”
By NICK GRACE
August 9, 2009 9:40 AM

SNIPPET: “Noordin Mohammed Top, initially believed to have died during a spectacular shootout in Central Java, may have been captured alive. Indonesian authorities are interrogating a terror suspect arrested Friday night who a witness said looks like the Malaysian fugitive.

The suspect, Ahmad Fery, was detained Friday night during a raid on a safe house in the Jatiasih area of Bekasi, a Jakarta suburb, that authorities say disrupted planned major attacks and netted over 500 Kg of explosives.

A neighborhood official who had previously spoken with Fery told Detik News on Sunday that he closely resembles Noordin.

“If I were to compare him with what police have put on television, Ahmad Fery looks a lot like Noordin,” Sundoyo, the official, said. He described Fery as standing 165 cm tall, having short hair, white skin, and a clean mustache and beard. Authorities have not commented on the report.

Fery rented a house in the Puri Naspala neighborhood of Jatiasih, Bekasi, with Amir Abdullah, who is also known as Amir Ibrohim, a few weeks before the July 17 terror attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta. Both men are suspected of involvement in the attacks and are also believed to have been planning upcoming attacks during Indonesia’s independence day celebrations on August 17.

“Neighbors reported strange behavior,” Sundoyo said. “Someone saw Ahmad Fery enter the house regularly through the window.” When confronted, the neighbor said Fery claimed that he lost his keys. Neighbors also complained about constant noises during nights and the steady stream of strangers that visited the house. “It’s not clear who they were,” he said.

Police told Sundoyo that the identity card Fery showed to him when applying to rent the house is a forgery. The name “Ahmed Fery” is likely to be fake.”

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