Jakarta (AsiaNews) – A terrorist on the run is suspected in last Friday’s Marriot Hotel bombing. Nur Hadi “used a fake ID when he entered and registered himself as guest in the Marriott Hotel,” said a leader of the Islamic Indonesian Movement (Gerakan Umat Islam Indonesia or GUII).
In an interview Saturday on a Jakarta TV station, GUII leader Abdurrahman Assegaf said that Nur Hadi, AKA Nur Sahid and Nurshasbi, was involved in Friday’s deadly attack.
“He was recruited by Teddy alias Reno alias Mubarok who is now believed to be the deputy-in-command in the Jemaah Islamiyah cells under the leadership of (Malaysian terrorist) Noordin Moh Top,” he said.
Assegaf said that Nur Hadi was a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah and a graduate of the Ngruki Islamic Educational Boarding School (Pesantren)”, which is run by Islamist hardliner Bakar Baasyir.
School administrators have rejected Assegaf’s allegations, saying they will sue him for his claims.
The Muslim leader insisted however that the suicide bomber was able to register at the hotel using a fake ID.
In the past “he had joined the Banten Connection, a Jemaah Islamiyah group, which was also involved with Bali bomber Imam Samudra,” he explained.
Indonesian media have reported that investigators have identified the suicide bomber, using DNA samples from relatives. But so far they have not made any public statement on the matter.
Terrorism expert Sidney Jones seems to agree that the bomb attack was orchestrated by Noordin Top’s aides, but in her opinion this doesn’t mean that it had prior Jemaah Islamiyah approval.
If confirmed this would indicate that Noordin’s followers acted on their own in order to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state and impose Sharia.
Closed-circuit television tapes show that suicide bomber who hit the Ritz Carlton was a woman. The Marriot Hotel attack was instead carried out by a man.