Southeast Asia’s most wanted terror suspect, Noordin Top, may have evaded a massive manhunt and fled Indonesia, police documents obtained by reporters said.
A militant who was arrested and extradited to Indonesia told police that an Algerian who helped him escape from the country also said that Top had managed to flee, the police interrogation documents said.
A senior anti-terror officer said yesterday that police were still “crosschecking” the information with other sources. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the nature of his job.
Top is accused of directing the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and three other attacks on Western targets in Indonesia that have together killed more than 240 people, most of them foreign tourists.
If confirmed, Top’s escape would be a blow to Indonesia, which has been praised for its successes in the fight against terrorism.
It would also raise worrying questions about Top’s current location and future plans.
Top, a Malaysian national, has been on the run since 2002. Police have arrested several of his aides or couriers and often claimed to be close to catching him, but over the last 18 months the trail has apparently gone cold.
The claim that he has fled is contained in police investigation reports into two senior Indonesian members of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant network who fled the country on a mission to link up with terrorist groups in the Middle East. They were arrested en route in Malaysia and extradited to Indonesia in late March.
Abu Husna and Agus Purwantoro told investigators an Algerian contact in Jakarta helped them obtain airplane tickets and fake passports and gave them contacts in Syria, the investigation reports said.
While discussing Abu Husna’s planned journey, the Algerian is quoted as saying: “Do you know that Noordin Top has escaped?”
Husna says he did not and asks Jafar how he knew this. Jafar replies that it is a secret.
Sidney Jones, a researcher for the International Crisis Group and a leading international authority on militants in Southeast Asia, said it was “plausible” that Top had managed to escape.
“If it is true, it’s a mixed blessing for Indonesia,” she said. “It would mean he was no longer around to recruit young Indonesians for possible attacks, but it would also mean someone with intimate knowledge of Southeast Asia was plugged back into the international jihadi network that could bring fresh attention to the region.”
Noordin Top is believed to head a breakaway faction of Jemaah Islamiyah committed to al-Qaeda style attacks on Western, civilian targets. In a video seized from a safehouse in 2005, he is shown pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda and vowing more attacks to avenge Muslim deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS