[Kabar-indonesia] Java Manhunt For Alleged Militants Near Where Azahari Was Killed

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

Indonesia Police Search Java For Alleged Militants

BEGAGAN LIMO, Indonesia, Aug. 2 (AP)--Indonesian anti-terror police searched 
villages on Java island Wednesday after they received information that 
suspicious men had been spotted in the area, police and witnesses said. 

The operations took place in mountain villages in Mojokerto district, east 
Java, close to where alleged terror leader Azahari Husin was shot and killed in 
a raid last year. 

"We have been ordered to search for strangers who locals say have been 
hanging around here for the last two months," a plainclothes police officer armed 
with an automatic weapon told a reporter in the village of Begagan Limo. 

He declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the 
media. 

Scores of other anti-terror police and army officers were deployed to area, 
searching vehicles and homes. 

Local media reported that Noordin Top, one of Southeast Asia's most wanted 
terrorists, may be in the area, but it was unclear what they were basing their 
information on. 

"I have been told that in the past few days six strangers were found up in 
the hills," said one villager called Suyono. "Their Indonesian was not that 
clear, they were bearded and carrying big bags." 

Authorities allege Top and Husin masterminded a series of attacks on Western 
interests in Indonesia in recent years, including bombings on the resort 
island of Bali in 2002 and 2005 that killed more than 220 people, most of them 
foreigners. 

In April, police in central Java shot two others suspected terrorists with 
links to the two men, both of whom are Malaysian. 

Mojokerto is some 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of Jakarta. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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