Indonesians welcome death of militant leader (Roundup)

Sep 18, 2009, 10:16 GMT

   Jakarta - Indonesians breathed a sigh of relief Friday after one of Asia's most wanted militants, blamed for a string of deadly attacks in the country, was killed in a shootout with police.

   But the national media warned that the death of Malaysian-born Islamic militant Noordin Mohammed Top did not mean the end of terrorism in Indonesia.

   Noordin was killed Thursday along with three other suspected militants in a police raid on a house near the Central Java city of Solo, ending a six-year nationwide manhunt.

   Police said they believed Noordin was responsible for the July 17 bombings of two luxury Jakarta hotels, which killed nine people, and for a string of other attacks since 2003.

   'I'm glad that he's finally dead,' said Ahmad Miftah, a bank employee in Jakarta. 'I hope there won't be any more bombings in the future.'

   The chairman of the Indonesian Council of Muslim Scholars, Amidhan, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said Noordin's death was 'a gift' ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, which ends the fasting month of Ramadan and falls on Sunday.

   Indonesian newspapers trumpeted the police success in their headlines.

   The English-language Jakarta Post enthused, 'Finally, gotcha!' while the Koran Tempo newspaper splashed 'The End' in capital letters on its front page.

   'Noordin's death is a victory in Indonesia's short-term efforts to fight terrorism,' the Jakarta Globe said in an editorial.

   'But killing or arresting terrorists alone will not end the extremist thinking that these terrorists foment and use as their siren call to arms,' it said.

   The Jakarta Globe said education was the most potent weapon against extremism and the government must intensify efforts to deal with a few schools that teach radical Islam.

   Koran Tempo warned authorities against complacency, saying that slain militants such as master bombmaker Azahari Husin, who was killed in a shootout in East Java in 2005, had passed on their skills to young radicals.

   'As long as recruitment continues, new terrorist cells will continue to grow,' the newspaper said. 'This means that we all must remain on alert.'

   Police spokesman Ketut Yoga Ana said police would not rest on their laurels an would continue to hunt for other members of Noordin's network.

   'There are still several fugitives out there,' he said.

   Another police spokesman said Noordin's body would be returned to Malaysia once DNA tests were completed.

   'It will be done later,' Soekarna was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

   Noordin's Malaysian wife said she wishes to bury her husband in his homeland of the southern Malaysian state of Johor, the Malaysia media reported Friday.

   Terrorism experts said Noordin was a key financier and recruiter for the Jemaah Islamiyah militant group, blamed for attacks in Indonesia from 2000 to 2003, but later formed his own, more violent organization after disagreements with more moderate militants within Jemaah Islamiyah.

   The International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution think tank, said in a report released in August that Noordin managed to evade arrest for years because of a network of support among militants, many of whom did not necessarily agree with his violent ways.