INDONESIAN police said yesterday it could take one to two weeks to confirm the death of Asian terror mastermind Noordin Top, amid doubts that he was the man killed in a dramatic stand-off with police special forces on Saturday.

One of Malaysian-born Noordin's wives and her children were travelling to Jakarta to provide DNA samples for the test, said Mr Dynno Chressbon, a government anti-terrorism adviser.

The Malaysian authorities were also going to Indonesia to assist in the identification, he said.

'The standard process takes about one week at the earliest if we have necessary references,' said Brigadier-General Eddy Saparwoko of Indonesia's disaster victim identification unit.

Noordin is blamed for some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Indonesia in recent years, including last month's bombing of the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta.

He was believed to have been killed on Saturday after police officers stormed a house in a Central Java village at the end of an 18-hour siege. But doubts were raised yesterday that a massive manhunt for Noordin had come to a close after seven years.

'Until the test results are out, we cannot yet confirm that this is Noordin Top,' said national police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri.

Mr Chressbon expressed scepticism that Noordin had been killed, citing comments from former militants who told media that a militant leader would never have been left alone at a hideout. Only one body was recovered from the scene.


Sumber : Straits Times