Noordin Top Update
By Kenneth Conboy
In a dramatic press conference on Thursday afternoon, the chief of the Indonesian National Police, General Bambang Hendarso Danuri, announced that Jemaah Islamiyah fugitive Noordin Top was among the four persons killed in a raid on a terrorist safe-house in Solo, Central Java province. The police found fourteen points of similarity between the fingerprints of the corpse and those on file for Top. Although initial reports claimed Top died when he detonated a suicide vest as the police were closing in this morning, General Bambang insisted that the police had shot him dead.
The three other dead terrorists included Bagus Budi Pranoto (alias Urwah), who had served four years for involvement in the 2004 Australian embassy bombing and was tied to the car bomb found on the outskirts of Jakarta last month; Ario Sudarso (alias Aji), who reportedly studied under the late JI bomb-maker Azhari Husein; and Hadi Susilo (alias Adib), who had rented the safe-house.
Two other terrorists, Rahmat Pudi Prabowo (alias Bejo) and Supono (alias Kedu), were captured alive. Hadi Susilo's pregnant wife was allegedly wounded in the raid.
The police also uncovered a pistol, an M-16 rifle, a laptop, and 200 kilos of explosives at the residence.
