Jakarta – Police are verifying intel that the country's most wanted terrorist, Noordin M. Top, has married again – this time to a 19-year-old woman in Pandeglang, Banten, days after one of his lieutenants was killed in Central Java.
"We've sent officers there," National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji said Thursday. "If it's true, then we'll find his wife and track him down from there."
Al Chaidar, a former member of the Darul Islam (DI) militant group, and now a lecturer at Syiah Kuala University in Aceh, said earlier he had received information from a DI member that Noordin had married Novi Lutfiati, from a DI family, days after the Temanggung raid.
Novi is the latest in a list of wives Noordin has taken while on the run. He has previous married several other women as a way to recruit followers and evade arrest. Before Novi, Noordin married Arina Rahmah in Cilacap, Central Java, last year, and Munfiatun in Jepara, Central Java.
Analysts say the fact Noordin was able to wed within days of the July 17 Jakarta hotel bombings showed the extent of the support he enjoyed from Islamic groups across Java. Building family ties and protection through marriage is only one way of recruitments for bombing operation for Noordin.
The latest study by the International Crisis Group (ICG) indicates Noordin is supported by a growing network. These links provide him with hiding places and manpower to carry out bombings.
In Central Java, the report says, he has the support of "Urwah" and Cilacap, Laweyan and Temanggung connections.
Urwah, aka Bagus Budi Pranoto, an ex-terror convict now sought for his role in the recent bombings, has helped Noordin build a network covering Central Java and West Java, it says.
In the case of Urwah, the ICG notes, "The important lesson to draw is not so much that released prisoners are dangerous, but rather that one well-connected person joining Noordin's network can significantly boost its size and scope."
The Cilacap link is also an example of how a single family link to Noordin can draw in other members to build a local base. It was during his three-year stay in Cilacap that Noordin married Arina Rahma.
Noordin has at least three other networks in Kuningan, Bogor and Banten. His top lieutenant, Syaifudin Jaelani, demonstrated how he could recruit a Bogor teenager for the suicide bombings of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels.
The discovery of more than 500 kilograms of explosives in Bekasi intended for use on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's private residence in Cikeas also shows their capability, the ICG says.
In addition to his wide network, Noordin also draws on the support of 50 Islamic boarding schools in Jepara, Boyolali and Surakarta, all in Central Java, and elsewhere in Java.
"The network of 50 JI schools [serve] as a source of recruits and supporters," the report says.
The ICG warns tougher laws will have no impact unless the government makes serious effort to understand and weaken the support base for terrorist activities.
"The way the ICG puts it, it seems we'll need a community policing strategy in place," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soe-karna told The Jakarta Post.
He added the plan was to embed officers within local communities to roll back radicalization efforts.