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12 August 2009 

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Indonesian Police: Terror Suspect Top Was Not Killed in Raid


12 August 2009

Maj. Gen. Nanan Sukarna showing portrait of Air Setiawan, a suspected militant killed in police raid, during press conference at main police hospital in Jakarta, 12 Aug 2009
Maj. Gen. Nanan Sukarna showing portrait of Air Setiawan, a suspected militant killed in police raid, during press conference at main police hospital in Jakarta, 12 Aug 2009
Indonesian police say DNA tests show that a militant killed in a police raid at the weekend was not Malaysian terror suspect Noordin Mohammed Top.

Indonesian national police official Eddy Saparwoko said Wednesday that the suspect shot dead during a siege in Central Java has been identified as a man named Ibrohim.

He says they compared the DNA with his family and the match was 100 percent.

DNA evidence also showed that the body is not, as was suspected, that of Noordin Mohammed Top, Indonesia's most wanted terror suspect. Noordin has ties with the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah and is suspected of planning the recent hotel bombings in Jakarta as well as other terrorist attacks in the past decade.

Police say Ibrohim was involved in the execution of the suicide bombings last month at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels. They say Ibrohim had been working as a florist at both hotels since 2005 and was able to bypass security to bring into the hotels the explosives used in the attacks. Police say he also recruited the two suicide bombers.

While Top is still at large, Indonesian Police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri says the force will continue to pursue him and others involved in the bombings.

He says they will not stop and will continue their efforts to arrest them.

Indonesian police officers gather outside a house after exchanging gunfire in Temanggung, Central Java, Indonesia, 08 Aug 2009
Indonesian police officers gather outside a house after exchanging gunfire in Temanggung, Central Java, Indonesia, 08 Aug 2009
Authorities say the police raid uncovered explosives and foiled a plan to kill Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Last month's hotel bombings killed seven people and injured more than 50. Noordin also is suspected of being involved in bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed more than 200 people.

Jemaah Islamiyah, which has links to the al-Qaida network, allegedly seeks to create a single Islamic state across much of Southeast Asia. Scores of its members have been convicted of terrorism and other crimes in Indonesia and jailed.


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