Johor Baru (Malaysia), Aug 12 (Inditop.com) “My son-in-law is more of a problem than anything else,” says Rusdi Hamid, the father-in-law of Southeast Asia’s most wanted terrorist Noordin Mohammad Top.
“Even if he is dead, it would not leave an impact on the family. After all, he left us for eight years without saying a word,” Hamid, saddled with having to look after Top’s family, told New Straits Times.
Top was believed killed in an encounter with Indonesia anti-terrorism forces last week causing speculation in security circles across the world.
The Indonesian authorities, however, announced Wednesday that the DNA samples of the killed terrorist did not match of those of Top.
Malaysia-born Top heads a splinter group of the extremist Jemmah Islamiah.
“My duty now is to look after my daughter and her three children.
“Whatever happens to Noordin, I leave it to God.”
In an interview with the New Straits Times Tuesday, Hamid seemed indifferent when asked about his son-in-law.
“Whatever happens, happens. We have left his fate to Allah,” he said at his home in Kampung Sungai Tiram.
Top was once the respected principal of a religious school in the village.
Hamid, 67, said he was pleased when Noordin asked for permission to marry his daughter.
“He was known to be religious and was well-respected in the village.”
However, things soured in 2001 when Noordin packed up and left the village, leaving his wife without any money to fend for herself or their three young children. Noordin has a 10-year-old son and two daughters aged nine and eight.
Hamid said he had no problems looking after his daughter and her three children. He supplies food to restaurants operating in Sungai Tiram in the early hours of the morning and sells dates.
Hamid was reluctant to talk about his daughter, the newspaper said. He would only say that she taught the Quran to children in the village.
“She is around… and she works to help me sustain the family,” he said softly.
He said the children do not understand what had happened to their father.
“When he left them, they were still babies. I don’t think they even remember him.”
Hamid said nowadays all the information that they got about Noordin was from the police, neighbours or, at times, the media.
“The whole world is looking for him, I don’t think I will ever see him again. I don’t even know what to say to him if I did,” he added.
DPA adds: The man killed in a weekend raid by Indonesia’s anti-terrorism police was not the country’s most wanted man, Noordin Mohammed Top, police said Wednesday.
DNA tests proved that the man was Ibrahim, accused of playing a key role in last month’s bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta, said Edy Suparwoko, head of the country’s police disaster victim identification department.
A day before those attacks, Ibrahim, who worked as a florist at the Ritz-Carlton, had smuggled the bombs and one of the two suicide bombers into the hotels, which are linked by an underground tunnel, said national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna.
“He was the one who controlled and conducted the survey” for the attacks, Soekarna said at a news conference.
Police said they believe Noordin was the mastermind behind the July 17 hotel attacks.
