Police in Indonesia say they believe they killed the country's
most-wanted terror suspect in a raid Saturday, and also broke up a bomb
plot targeting the country's president.
The nation's top police official, however, says authorities will await
the outcome of DNA tests before they confirm the death of Noordin
Mohammed Top, who was blamed for a series of notorious bomb attacks.
Noordin, believed to have ordered last month's deadly bomb attack on
luxury hotels in Jakarta, was the target when police raided a house in
central Java used as a hideout by Islamic militants. Unofficial reports
say Noordin's body was flown to the capital for an autopsy.
Officials say a second raid Saturday broke up a plot to assassinate
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Two men were killed in that
incident (in Bekasi) outside Jakarta, as they tried to throw pipe bombs at police.
President Yudhoyono sent a message of congratulations to police on what he said was "a successful operation."
Malaysian-born Noordin has narrowly escaped arrest several times in the
past, but an expert on terrorism in Asia, Sidney Jones of the
International Crisis Group, said Saturday it appears that he has
finally been neutralized.
Jones said she received several confirmations from police that Noordin was killed Saturday.
National police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said security forces
seized a bomb and a car being prepared for an attack on one of
President Yudhoyono's homes during the second raid carried out
Saturday. He described those involved as members of a "cell" led by
Noordin.
The same terrorist organization was implicated in the July 17 attacks
on the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta, which killed nine
people and wounded more than 50.
The organization Noordin led is linked to the regional terrorist group
Jemaah Islamiya, which has been blamed for a series of deadly attacks -
in particular, major bomb attacks on Bali in 2002 and 2005.