Doubts Raised That Dead Terrorist Was Top Leader

Police scrambled Sunday to identify the body of a suspected terrorist killed in a farmhouse gunbattle after discovering a plot to kill Indonesia's president in a suicide car bombing.

Forensics teams planned to collect DNA samples from family members of regional terror mastermind Noordin Muhammad Top, who was reportedly killed during a 16-hour firefight with officers in central Java on Saturday, said Dynno Chressbon, a government anti-terrorism adviser.

One of Noordin's wives and children were traveling to the capital Jakarta to provide samples, Chressbon said.

Malaysian authorities were also coming to Indonesia to assist in the identification, he said. Noordin is a Malaysian citizen, blamed for some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Southeast Asian in recent years, and a self-proclaimed al-Qaida commander.

Serious doubts were raised Sunday that a massive manhunt for Noordin had come to a close after seven years. ''We cannot yet confirm that this is Noordin Top,'' national police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said.

Chressbon expressed skepticism that Noordin was killed citing comments from former militants who told media that a militant leader would have never been left alone at a hide-out. Only one body was recovered from the scene.

''I indeed doubt that the victim is the suspected terrorist Noordin Top,'' he said.

Retired Gen. Abdullah Hendropriyono, a former intelligence agency, said he also doubted if the dead terrorist was Noordin.

''It is impossible for a terrorist like Noordin to walk or stay alone, without guards,'' Hendropriyono told MetroTV. ''If he is just alone it is hard to believe ... As an analyst, I bet it is not Noordin.''

Widespread media reports of Noordin's death, which were attributed to anonymous police officers, were largely retracted Sunday.

The English-language Jakarta Post daily newspaper headlined: ''Was it Noordin?'' while Indonesia broadcaster TV One -- which aired dramatic footage of the siege and said Noordin was dead -- backtracked on its coverage. link.....