The terrorist scourge has at least being annihilated for the time being by the Indonesians. They are being savage to the terrorists to committed savage acts of barbary against Indonesia.
Posted on 09/17/2009 8:04:38 PM PDT by myknowledge
Indonesian authorities are celebrating the death of terrorist leader Noordin Mohammed Top, who was killed in a police raid in Java yesterday.
Police have also found what they claim is evidence showing Top was Al Qaeda's leader in South-East Asia.
But analysts say Indonesia's terrorist network could quickly recover from his death.
Police were not specifically looking for Top when they swooped on a property in Solo in central Java, but after avoiding police for years, the infamous terrorist leader's luck had finally run out.
Top was one of four men shot dead by the special anti-terrorist police detachment, 88, after a nine-hour siege at his hideout.
The terrorist mastermind was armed with a pistol and inside the house was a machine gun and 200 kilograms of explosives.
Former senior Jemaah Islamiah figure Nasir Abbas, who wrote a book about the hunt for Top, says the terrorist might have run out of people willing to shelter him.
"I felt surprised when Noordin was killed," he said.
"There's one ... question: I thought that he [would] never be with the one person who [was] well known by the police and also I feel that Noordin grew tired to think about how to hide himself."
Noordin Top had a hand in every major terrorist attack in Indonesia for the past five years; his misdeeds claimed the lives of Australians in Bali and Jakarta, including the latest bombings in Indonesia's capital in July.
The raid yesterday netted documents and a computer which national police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri says shows Top and Al Qaeda shared more than just a murderous ideology.
Top led a splinter group of Jemaah Islamiah, but he was also the leader of Al Qaeda in south-east Asia, the police chief said.
While he would not detail the evidence, he said that Top's organisation was surely related to the higher group.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Top's death is a significant blow against terrorism in the region.
"This has been a very difficult operation over a long period of time and the credit goes to the Indonesians," he told AM.
"This man has been a mass murderer, he's been responsible for the murder of Australians.
"[But] it doesn't leave us in a position where we can feel complacent about the future."
Al Qaeda links 'not certain'
But terrorism analyst Sidney Jones remains unconvinced about the strength of the Al Qaeda links.
"I think that there is clearly foreign funding, and I think it's going to be very interesting to see who provided the funding, how much and what the affiliations were of the people who provided the funding," she said.
"But I don't think we can conclude yet that it was Al Qaeda central involved."
Top's ability to strike and then elude police made him a hero to Indonesian radicals.
On radical websites he has already being called a martyr, and even dead it is likely he will remain a recruiting tool.
For now though, police have struck what analysts say is a heavy hit that, at least in the short term, may reduce the risk of another terrorist attack in Indonesia.
"I think for terrorist groups that are aimed at Western targets it's a big blow," Ms Jones said.
"It doesn't mean that the problem of terrorism has been eradicated because I think there is a possibility that some of the people close to Noordin will come back, try to take over the leadership of this splinter group."
The terrorist scourge has at least being annihilated for the time being by the Indonesians. They are being savage to the terrorists to committed savage acts of barbary against Indonesia.
Don’t forget to look for terrorists in San Francisco. A “safe haven.”
88 Hot Cops get Terrorist Top
It's worth noting that each and every one of the terrorist attacks in Indonesia including Bali have had many, many Indonesian victims **including many Indonesian Muslims** in Jakarta. I think the first JW Marriot attack several years ago was 95 percent Indonesian casualties, while Bali had 400 or 500 to my recollection (shamefully underreported).
Abbott and Costello would have a field day with this name.
“Who’s on Top?”
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