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Here're some detailed information on why Noordin Top is most wanted in Indonesia and even in S E Asia.
Q+A: Noordin Mohammad Top and Islamic militancy in Indonesia
Q+A: Noordin Mohammad Top and Islamic militancy in Indonesia
17 Sept JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's most wanted Islamist militant, Noordin Mohammad Top, was killed in a police shoot-out in Central Java, police said on Thursday, lifting a major security threat in Southeast Asia.
Malaysian-born Top, who set up a violent splinter group of regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah, was widely considered the mastermind of the bomb attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta in July, as well as other attacks in Bali and in Jakarta, which have killed scores of Westerners and Indonesians.
WHO WAS TOP AND WHAT WAS HIS GROUP?
Top was born in southern Malaysia and turned to militant Islam after university ... He fled to Indonesia with fellow Malaysian and expert bomb-maker Azahari Husin following a domestic crackdown after the September 11 attacks in 2001. He became a key figure in militant group Jemaah Islamiah and is suspected of planning attacks on the JW Marriott in Jakarta in 2003, on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in 2004 and in Bali. He formed a far more violent splinter group around 2005, ....
WHY WAS TOP CONSIDERED SO IMPORTANT?
It is unclear what Top's actual connections to the wider al Qaeda movement were, but analysts say several in his group appear to have had links ...
While the mainstream JI has backed away from supporting violence, at least on Indonesian soil, Top did not. Helped by his professional background, analysts say Top became an expert in planning attacks, knowing how to find safe houses, undertaking surveillance and mixing explosives. Ken Conboy, a security consultant and author, said Top's key role was his ability to recruit suicide bombers "...to me that is the real key that he was able to get these village boys and convince them often in just matter of days to give their lives." Analysts also say he was quick to improvise tactics ...
WHAT DOES HIS DEATH MEAN FOR MILITANT ISLAM IN INDONESIA?
Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group said Top had been the only leading militant leader in Indonesia who had still been campaigning for implementation of Osama bin Laden's 1998 fatwa on killing Westerners. "There isn't another radical leader in Indonesia who has given that same message so consistently," said Jones. She said Top's death was "a huge blow for the extremist organizations in Indonesia and the region." ....
Most Indonesian Muslims follow a moderate form of Islam, but an increasingly vocal radical fringe has grown in recent years in Indonesia's young democracy. Top had built up something of a cult following, particularly among some younger militants, .... So his death could demoralize radicals, although it could also mean he is viewed as a martyr. ....
Malaysian-born Top, who set up a violent splinter group of regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah, was widely considered the mastermind of the bomb attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta in July, as well as other attacks in Bali and in Jakarta, which have killed scores of Westerners and Indonesians.
WHO WAS TOP AND WHAT WAS HIS GROUP?
Top was born in southern Malaysia and turned to militant Islam after university ... He fled to Indonesia with fellow Malaysian and expert bomb-maker Azahari Husin following a domestic crackdown after the September 11 attacks in 2001. He became a key figure in militant group Jemaah Islamiah and is suspected of planning attacks on the JW Marriott in Jakarta in 2003, on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in 2004 and in Bali. He formed a far more violent splinter group around 2005, ....
WHY WAS TOP CONSIDERED SO IMPORTANT?
It is unclear what Top's actual connections to the wider al Qaeda movement were, but analysts say several in his group appear to have had links ...
While the mainstream JI has backed away from supporting violence, at least on Indonesian soil, Top did not. Helped by his professional background, analysts say Top became an expert in planning attacks, knowing how to find safe houses, undertaking surveillance and mixing explosives. Ken Conboy, a security consultant and author, said Top's key role was his ability to recruit suicide bombers "...to me that is the real key that he was able to get these village boys and convince them often in just matter of days to give their lives." Analysts also say he was quick to improvise tactics ...
WHAT DOES HIS DEATH MEAN FOR MILITANT ISLAM IN INDONESIA?
Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group said Top had been the only leading militant leader in Indonesia who had still been campaigning for implementation of Osama bin Laden's 1998 fatwa on killing Westerners. "There isn't another radical leader in Indonesia who has given that same message so consistently," said Jones. She said Top's death was "a huge blow for the extremist organizations in Indonesia and the region." ....
Most Indonesian Muslims follow a moderate form of Islam, but an increasingly vocal radical fringe has grown in recent years in Indonesia's young democracy. Top had built up something of a cult following, particularly among some younger militants, .... So his death could demoralize radicals, although it could also mean he is viewed as a martyr. ....
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