Terrorism Suspect Dies in Standoff

Azahari Husin, a bomb-making expert who was one of the most-wanted terrorism suspects in Southeast Asia, was killed in Indonesia when he blew himself up during a standoff with police, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said today.

Azahari, a Malaysian, allegedly oversaw assembly of the bombs that killed 202 people in Bali nightclubs three years ago. Police said he was one of three men whom officers surrounded Wednesday in a hide-out in the East Java city of Malang. The standoff ended in a series of explosions that killed all three suspects.

Today, police said fingerprints had confirmed that Azahari was among the dead.

Azahari, a top operative of the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network, had been the target of an intense manhunt since last month’s bombings of three Bali restaurants that killed 23 people, including three suicide bombers.

His death was a major setback for the group because few terrorists in the region can match his skill in constructing bombs and organizing attacks, experts say.

Gen. Sutanto, the national police chief, said that during Wednesday’s siege, the suspects set off 11 explosive devices. The last blast was the largest and apparently killed the three men, the chief said.

“That was their bomb, a suicide bomb,” Sutanto told reporters Wednesday night.

Authorities have said that Azahari often wore an explosives belt so he could blow himself up rather than be captured.

Indonesian television broadcast footage of the house after the final explosion, showing the roof blown off, walls damaged and glass shattered.

Police waited until after daybreak today to enter the house because of concern it would be booby-trapped.

Azahari, who earned a doctorate in land management from the University of Reading in Britain, had proved adept at evading police. Authorities acknowledge that he slipped from their grasp at least five times.

Last year, as he fled the scene of the bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, he was stopped by a traffic police officer. Azahari paid a small bribe and sped away on his motorcycle.

Known as the “Demolition Man” because of his bomb-making expertise, he was believed to have been involved in five of Indonesia’s largest terrorist attacks: the bombing of churches on Christmas Eve 2000; the Bali nightclub bombings in 2002; the car bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2003; the Australian Embassy car bombing; and the Oct. 1 Bali restaurant bombings.

Combined, those attacks killed more than 260 people and injured hundreds. The last four were carried out by suicide bombers, which were unheard of in Indonesia before the Bali nightclub bombings.

Azahari’s ability to operate in Indonesia for so long had been a major embarrassment to police. Yudhoyono acknowledged last month that the continued attacks were damaging the country’s reputation.

Jemaah Islamiah says its goal is to create an Islamic state in Southeast Asia. Many of its leaders trained at Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. Authorities say the Al Qaeda terrorist network helped finance some of Azahari’s bombings before the arrest of key figures in both groups.

While on the run, Azahari and his main collaborator, fellow Malaysian Noordin Mohammed Top, largely acted autonomously, forming alliances with other militant groups and recruiting operatives to help carry out bombings while moving from one safe house to another, authorities said.

Top, said to be a charismatic figure who can attract young men to the militant movement, remains on the loose.

Also wanted by authorities is an Indonesian member of Jemaah Islamiah known as Dulmatin who allegedly helped Azahari make the first Bali bombs.

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Dinda Jouhana of The Times’ Jakarta Bureau contributed to this report.