TERRORIST NOORDIN M.TOP -- A BIO SKETCH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001329 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, EAP/INR S/CT, DS, CA NSC FOR J.BADER E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/11/2019 TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS ASEC ID SUBJECT: TERRORIST NOORDIN M.TOP -- A BIO SKETCH REF: JAKARTA 1318 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Mission provides biographic information below regarding Noordin M. Top. Top, a Malaysian national, has been implicated in the July 17 hotel bombings in Jakarta and other terrorist acts. Top, who is 41 and arrived in Indonesia after 9/11, has been involved with extremist politics for 15-20 years and is connected with the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI),though he now reputedly leads a JI splinter group. Considered the most wanted man in Indonesia, he is elusive. Indonesian police recently thought they may have cornered and killed him in an operation in Central Java, but he escaped and remains on the run. END SUMMARY. TERRORIST CONNECTIONS BEGAN IN MALAYSIA ¶2. (C) Top was born on August 11, 1968, in Kluang, Johor, Malaysia. He reportedly attended the Malaysian University of Technology and attended Qur'an studies at the Luqmanul Hakiem Madrasah in Ulu Tiram, Johor. The school was founded in 1992 by a teacher of Top's, Abdullah Sungkar. Sungkar left Indonesia during the Suharto regime under charges connected with his membership in the extremist group Indonesian Islamic State (NII). Along with Abu Bakar Bashir, Sungkar co-founded Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in Malaysia in the 1990's. In the meantime, the Luqmanul Hakiem Madrasah became the reputed operational headquarters of "Mantiqi I," an Al Qaeda-affiliated organization covering Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and other areas. ¶3. (C) After two years of Islamic studies, Top formally joined JI in 1998 and was given command of a "commando squad," serving under Muhammad Nasir Abbas, who has since renounced JI. (Note: Abbas now provides assistance to Indonesian law enforcement officials in efforts to dismantle terrorist networks.) Top was mentored by JI leader Hambali, now detained at Guantanamo Bay, and received training in firearms use and assembling bombs, etc. Top was specifically recognized in the organization for his leadership, management and tactical skills. After the death of Sungkar in 1999, Top became the "mudir" or school director of the Luqmanul Hakiem Madrasah, and it was there that he met Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, who, together with Amrozi and Imam Samudra, carried out the 2002 Bali bombings. All three of these terrorists were executed in November 2008. ACTIVITIES IN INDONESIA ¶4. (C) Top left Malaysia after the September 11, 2001, attacks and took haven in Riau, Sumatra. Top and Azahari, a fellow JI member and former professor at the Malaysian University of Technology, were pursued by police after the October 2002 Bali bombings. Azahari was killed in a shootout with police in 2005 in Batu, East Java. In 2005, Top, at the time using the alias Ade Abdul Halim, married Arina Rahma, daughter of Baridin, a JI member, and sister of M. Rais, who was convicted of involvement in the 2003 Jakarta Marriott bombing. He has two children with Arina Rahma. Saefudin Zuhri, a cousin of Baridin, was arrested three weeks before the July 17 J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton attacks. The arrest came as a result of a police raid in Palembang that netted extremists Ani Sugandi, Abdurrahaman, and Fajar Taslim plus several bombs as well as bomb-making materials. Top is believed to have other wives and children. ¶5. (C) Top reportedly leads a JI splinter group comprised of both JI members and outsiders committed to violence. He has been connected to the July 17 bombings of the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta which killed nine (including two suicide bombers). Since July 17, "Wanted" posters re Top have been placed on government buildings and in market areas all over Indonesia. In a late July blog posting, a group called "Al-Qaida Indonesia" claimed responsibility for the blasts. The blog posting was signed in the name of Top. STILL ON THE RUN ¶6. (C) Media sources reported that Top was killed in an August 7-8 police operation in Temanggung, Central Java. Local sources have stated that Top may have escaped the house just prior to the raid and is still on the run. Top is JAKARTA 00001329 002 OF 002 elusive and has had a number of close calls with the police over the years. Local sources stated that the body that had been thought to be Top's may actually be Ibrohim, a former Ritz-Carlton florist who is suspected of aiding and abetting the July 17 attacks. The body is undergoing DNA testing to determine its identity. ¶7. (C) As reported reftel, the recent police operations clearly disrupted Top's organization, heading off some immediate threats, and removing a large amount of explosives from the hands of terrorists. All that said, while the raids damaged the capabilities of Top's organization, it is believed to remain capable of carrying out attacks. HUME