RI-Malaysia cooperation necessary to destroy Noordin`s network

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia should cooperate with Malaysia to root out the network of fugitive terror mastermind Noordin M Top who has been operating in Indonesia since 2000.

The Indonesian government and people should forge cooperation with Malaysia to arrest Noordin Mohammad Top, the Malaysian extremist wanted for masterminding a series of suicide bombings in Indonesia, Mussni Umar, the spokesman of the Indonesian delegation in the Indonesia-Malaysia Eminent Persons` Group (EPG), said on Wednesday.

"The governments of the two countries should step up cooperation to arrest Noordin Mohammad Top," Umar said, adding the recent police raids on terrorist hideouts in Bekasi, West Java, and in Temanggung, Central Java, should be a good momentum for the Indonesian government to dismantle Top`s network in the country.

Umar said the series of terror bombings that had happened in a number of Indonesian cities in the past few years had tarnished Indonesia`s image and created fear among the people.

"Terrorism is the common enemy of Indonesia and Malaysia," Umar said.

Meanwhile, five bodies of suspected terrorists at the Soekanto police hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, have been identified as Dani Dwi Permana, Nana Ihwan Maulana, Air Setiawan, Eko Joko Sarjono, and Ibrohim.

Dani and Nana were the suicide bombers at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in the Mega Kuningan area in Jakarta on July 17, 2009, while Air and Eko were terror suspects shot dead by the police during a raid on their hideout at Puri Nusapala housing complex in Jatiasih, Bekasi, West Java, on Aug 7, 2009.

Air and Eko were shot dead after they tried to throw a hand- bomb at police officers conducting the raid.

Police said DNA tests showed on Wednesday that the fifth body was identified as Ibrohim, a militant killed in a police raid in Temanggung, Central Java, last Saturday, and not as Noordin M Top as previously assumed.(*)