Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Indonesia will release DNA test results to remove any doubt one of Asia's most wanted militants was killed, police said on Friday, as neighboring Australia urged Jakarta to keep up the fight against Islamist extremism.
Police said Malaysian-born Noordin Mohammad Top, the suspected mastermind behind the bombings of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta in July, died on Thursday in a shootout during a raid on a house near Solo in Central Java.
Top's death was confirmed using Malaysian police fingerprint records. Police spokesman Nanan Soekarna said DNA tests on Top's body had been completed but the results may now not be made public until Saturday.
Police were concerned about possible retaliation from militants as Indonesia heads for a holiday next week to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Soekarna said. "We must keep on alert," Soekarna said by telephone.
Top, who set up a violent splinter group of regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah, was blamed for attacks in Bali and Jakarta that killed scores of Westerners and Indonesians.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy and the world's most populous Muslim country, had been under intense pressure to capture or kill Top ahead of a planned visit by US President Barack Obama in November.
"I think this reduces the threat level but he (Top) has a network and substantial portions of it remain at large and it's clear that some of his capabilities have been transmitted to members of his network," said Kevin O'Rourke, a Jakarta-based political risk analyst and author.
Badaruddin Ismael, a representative of Top's family in Malaysia, said the family planned to come to Indonesia to pick up the militant's body after a Muslim holiday ends early next week.
'Mass murderer'
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd welcomed the death of Top, who died with three other militants including members of his inner circle in the gunfight in Solo.
"This man has been a mass murderer. He has been responsible for the murder of Australians, and I congratulate the Indonesians on their success," Rudd told Australian radio.
"However, it doesn't leave us in a position where we can feel complacent about the future. Jemaah Islamiah is alive and well, al Qaeda is still alive and well," Rudd said.
Scores of Australians have been killed in attacks by Islamist militants in Jakarta and Bali since 2002.
Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group said Top was the only leading militant leader in Indonesia still campaigning for implementation of Osama bin Laden's 1998 fatwa on killing Westerners.
It is unclear what Top's actual connections to the wider al Qaeda movement were, but analysts say several in his group may have had links and Indonesian police are investigating whether his network was receiving overseas funding from the Middle East.
Analysts say it is difficult to assess the number of members in Top's group given that it appears to be loosely organized. Any regional links are also unclear although at least two top JI figures fled to Muslim areas in the southern Philippines.
Wanted militants linked to the recent attacks who remain at large include Syaifudin Djaelani, who is suspected of recruiting the suicide bombers for the hotel bombings, and Mohammad Syahrir.
Some analysts said Top's death should also help improve investment sentiment in Indonesia.
"I think this has been a good week for the investment climate. We had the rating upgrade, the value of the rupiah and of course the capture and killing of Noordin Top," said Fauzi Ichsan, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Jakarta.
Helped by improved economic and political stability under Yudhoyono, the rupiah is the best performing currency in Asia so far this year, while Jakarta stocks are up more than 80 percent this year and bond prices have also rallied.
Moody's Investors Service also raised Indonesia's sovereign rating on Wednesday by one notch to Ba2 on improving economic prospects.
Peter Fanning of the international chamber of commerce in Jakarta said Top's death may not actually lift investment but could alter the way business is done by making key foreign executives more comfortable about coming to Indonesia.
[Additional reporting by Sunanda Creagh and Olivia Rondonuwu in Jakarta, and by Rob Taylor in Canberra; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Bill Tarrant.]