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JAKARTA: A woman arrested by Indonesian police in connection with July 17 hotel bombings in Jakarta has identified her husband as terror suspect Noordin Mohammed Top, her lawyer said Tuesday.
Arina Rahmah, 25, is being held as a witness along with her mother, Dwi Astuti, and two children aged one and two years, following the attacks which killed seven people and two bombers, lawyer Asludin Hatjani told AFP.
"The police showed her photos of Noordin Top and she told them they resembled her husband, Abdul Halim," he said.
“She said the last time she saw him was in March this year."
Police are hoping the housewife from rural Java will provide crucial information about the habits and movements of her husband, one of Asia's most wanted fugitives who is blamed for a string of bombings in Indonesia.
Police believe his network may be behind the twin suicide blasts on the JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta earlier this month, although no group has claimed responsibility.
Malaysian-born Noordin allegedly masterminded a suicide truck bombing at the Marriott in 2003, as well as the 2004 suicide bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta and 2005 suicide attacks on restaurants in Bali.
Those attacks killed 42 people, mainly Indonesians, injured hundreds and triggered the biggest manhunt in Indonesian history.
He is believed to lead a splinter group of the Jemaah Islamiyah Islamist network responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, mainly Western tourists.
- AFP/yb
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