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'Walking bombs' are desperate
By Amy Chew for CNN
(CNN) -- Two terror suspects linked to the August blast of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta have become walking bombs as they run from Indonesian police with explosives packed inside bags slung round their bodies. Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohammed Top have been linked with the Bali blasts and Marriott attacks and are listed among the most wanted suspected members of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network. Azahari himself has been called the most important man after Hambali, the JI operations chief being held in U.S. custody. Intelligence sources told CNN the fugitives are extremely dangerous because they are more than willing to die for the cause. "They believe deeply in their cause and they do not want to be taken in alive. They are desperate and want to commit one last, big blast before they go," said one intelligence source. "And Azahari is a real expert. The bombs he made -- which they are now carrying -- cannot be easily detonated. If you cut the cables, it will automatically trigger a detonator and blow up. You have two walking bombs here." Indonesia's chief detective Erwin Mappaseng echoed this view, calling on the public to be on the alert. JI has been blamed for last year's devastating attack in Bali, which killed 202 people, as well as the August 5 attack on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which killed 12 people. Azahari and Noordin fled from their boarding house in Bandung, West Java on Wednesday after police caught two other Marriott suspects in the nearby town of Cirebon. The police chased the two Malaysians but did not shoot after they run into a narrow alley crowded with people. "Because we had received information they were carrying bombs ready to be exploded at any time, our men calculated that there must be no casualties (from the public) so they gave chase instead (of shooting)," said Mappaseng. Police found six assembled bombs in Azahari's boarding house and about 3 kilograms of TNT, as well as dozens of detonators, which police say confirms their fears that more attacks are being planned. Commentators say the police are in a quandary over how to catch the two men alive, without injuring or killing residents or police. "The police seem really worried. It is going to be really difficult to get those two without them blowing themselves-up and the people around them, including police officers who are chasing them," said the intelligence source. "But it is really important that Azahari is brought in alive. He is very important in JI. He has a lot of information and can provide the missing link to JI's structure and activities." Azahari is a former professor of statistics at the Malaysian Institute of Technology. He is an expert in making bombs and detonators, and reportedly knows how to set off bombs using satellites. Described as a loner who spent most of his time with books and computers, Azahari came under the influence of radical groups when he was in Malaysia's state of Johor. "He does not have a deep and structured knowledge of Islam and that is why he was influenced when he met those people. His view of Islam is very dogmatic," said the intelligence source.
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