NO END TO TERRORISM WITH NOORDIN TOP'S DEATH

JOHOR BAHARU (Malaysia), Sept 29 (Bernama) -- Although Asia's most wanted
terrorist Noordin Mohamad Top was killed by Indonesian security forces in an
operation recently, his demise does not spell the end of terrorism in the
republic, according to a former senior leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

Nasir Abbas, who is now helping the Indonesian authorities fight terrorism
through rehabilitation programmes, said a more important and urgent effort
needed was erasing extremism among a section of Indonesian society.

"Terrorism does not disappear with one person's death. That person is not
important but his ideology. What is in the heart and mind is more dangerous and
a threat if allowed to prevail.

"Cleansing of the mind and heart is vital in stamping out extremism," said
the Malaysian who now resides in Jakarta, in a telephone interview by Bernama.

When he was active in JI, Nasir who received military-style training in
Afghanistan, was appointed to head JI's extremist operations in Sabah, the
southern Philippines and Celebes.

After being arrested by Indonesian authorities and incarcerated, Nasir is
now actively helping the relevant authorities in the rehabilitation of
militants.

According to him, the spread of extremist ideology in Indonesia still
continued and so earnest efforts were needed to combat this.

Noordin Mohamad Top who headed JI's radical splinter group known as Tandzim
Al-Qoidah Indonesia was shot dead by Indonesian security forces in a raid on a
militant hideout in Solo, Central Java on Sept 17, ending a six-year hunt for
the republic's most wanted Islamist militant.

The former accountant is said to be responsible for planning and undertaking
a series of bomb attacks in Indonesia, including at the Ritz Carlton and JW
Marriott hotels in Jakarta in July, which left nine people dead.

Nasir said he was close to Noordin when both were religious students at the
Madrasah Luqmanul Hakim in Ulu Tiram in Malaysia's southern state of Johor in
1996 and 1997.

"The Noordin I knew was kind and friendly. He was a good organiser. I did
not expect him to change so much," he added.

Nasir said Noordin started involving in JI's militant activities around the
year 2000 after being recruited by the group's leader known as Hambali (Riduan
Isamuddin).

Hambali was arrested by Thai authorities in Ayutthaya in 2003 before he was
handed to the United States and now held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Asked whether Indonesia required preventive laws like the Internal Security
Act (ISA) in Malaysia and Singapore to fight terrorism, Nasir felt that it did
not.

He said although Indonesia was without such a law, the efforts being carried
out to fight terrorism were already showing some positive results.

However, many security analysts in the region opine that one of the factors
behind Malaysia and Singapore's success in countering terrorism was the
existence of the ISA in the two countries.
-- BERNAMA