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Indonesia confirms militant alive Indonesian mastermind 'not dead'
(about 4 hours later)
DNA tests show that a man killed in a weekend raid was not Noordin Mohammed Top, one of the region's most wanted men, Indonesian police say. Police hunting the suspected mastermind of Indonesia's hotel bombings, Noordin Mohammed Top, have said a man shot dead in a weekend raid was not him.
The dead man - killed at the end of a siege at a remote farmhouse in Central Java on Saturday - was named instead as a suspect in two 17 July bomb attacks. DNA tests identified the man as one of Noordin's accomplices in the attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on 17 July, police said.
Police sources earlier said they had killed Malaysian-born Noordin. Earlier reports had suggested the dead man was Malaysian-born Noordin.
He has been blamed for a number of attacks, including the July hotel bombs in Jakarta and the 2002 Bali blasts. His is one of Asia's most wanted men, and has been blamed for a string of attacks including the 2002 Bali blasts.
"The dead body is Ibrohim... We tried to match the DNA with the sample from Johor [Noordin's son] and it didn't match," police spokesman Nanan Soekarna told a news conference. The BBC's Rebecca Henschke, in Jakarta, says police are trying to play down their disappointment, but the news that Noordin was not killed will be a major blow for them.
Florist fixer They have been hunting him for seven years.
He said Ibrohim was a florist who had worked at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in the Indonesian capital. 'Explosive smuggler'
He is suspected of having helped prepare last month's twin attacks, which killed nine people, including six foreigners. Police named the dead man as Ibrohim and said he had worked as a florist at both of the hotels that were attacked by suicide bombers.
Police released new security camera footage showing a man identified as Ibrohim escorting the alleged Marriott bomber around the hotel on 8 July, and later bringing bomb-making material into the hotel's staff-only loading bay. Nine people were killed in the attacks.
"Ibrohim was a planner who was always present in the meetings with Noordin Top," Mr Soekarna said. "Ibrohim was a planner who was always present in the meetings with Noordin Top," police spokesman Nanan Soekarna told a news conference.
Police said they believed Ibrohim was to have been a suicide bomber himself in a planned attack on the home of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. This year's July bombings were an ugly reminder of past attacks
That plot was foiled in the security forces' attack last weekend on the Central Javanese farmhouse where explosives were found, police said. Police released new security camera footage showing Ibrohim escorting the alleged Marriott bomber around the hotel on 8 July, and later bringing bomb-making material into the hotel's staff-only loading bay.
Tributes have been left for those killed in the hotel attacks Mr Soekarna added that the militants were planning an attack on the house of President Susilo Bambang Yudohyono, and claimed Ibrohim was going to be a suicide bomber in that operation.
Acting on a tip-off, Indonesian police mounted the 16-hour siege of the farmhouse in which Noordin was initially claimed to have been killed. On Saturday police mounted a siege of a farmhouse in Temanggung, central Java, after a tip-off suggested Noordin was hiding out there.
Analysts had doubted the claims and media later reported police sources saying that Noordin had probably fled the farmhouse about two hours before the raid began. Initial reports suggested Noordin had been killed after an hours-long shoot-out.
His reputation as the most wanted - yet most elusive - militant in South East Asia will only be burnished by this latest failure to catch him, analysts said. But analysts had doubted the claims, and police chiefs are now not certain whether Noordin was ever at the farmhouse.
He is believed to have formed a violent offshoot of the Jemmah Islamiah militant network, after the network split over the use of violence. He is believed to have formed a violent offshoot from the al-Qaeda-linked militant network Jemaah Islamiah.
As well as the 2002 Bali bombings, Noordin is thought to have been behind attacks on the Jakarta Marriott in 2003, the Australian embassy in 2004, and also on a series of restaurants in Bali in 2005 in which more than 20 died.As well as the 2002 Bali bombings, Noordin is thought to have been behind attacks on the Jakarta Marriott in 2003, the Australian embassy in 2004, and also on a series of restaurants in Bali in 2005 in which more than 20 died.