JAKARTA- Indonesia’s most wanted Islamist militant, Noordin Mohammad Top, was killed in a police shoot-out in Central Java, police said yesterday, lifting a major security threat ahead of a planned visit by US President Barack Obama.
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.National police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri, when asked if it was true that Top had been killed, told reporters: ‘Yes, yes yes.’ The police chief had just held a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.A smiling Danuri later announced Top’s death at a news conference, triumphantly holding up photos to show the match between Top’s fingerprints and those on police file, as reporters and police in the room cheered. – Nampa-Reuters
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