Indonesian police capture wanted terror suspect

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian police arrested one of the country's most-wanted Islamic militants Friday, accusing him of plotting high-profile assassinations and attacks on foreigners at luxury hotels in the capital, officials said. Abu Tholut, captured during an anti-terror raid on a home in Central Java, allegedly helped set up a militant training camp in westernmost Aceh province that was uncovered by police early this year. A militant turncoat told The Associated Press after the arrest that Tholut was one of the country's most dangerous terror leaders. Police officials, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because they did not have authority to talk to the media, said the suspect helped recruit members and raise money for Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid terror cell. Central Java police chief Maj. Gen. Edward Aritonang would only say that the militant, captured without a fight, (deleted repetition) played an "important role in the terror movement." Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 240 million, has battled extremists since 2002, when members of the al-Qaida-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah bombed two nightclubs on Bali island, killing 202 people, most of them foreign tourists. Members of a violent offshoot of Jemaah Islamiyah have continued to carry out near-annual strikes on embassies, beach-side restaurants and glitzy hotels since then, killing more than 60. Tholut, also known as Mustofa, became one of the country's most wanted fugitives after master bombmakers Noordin M. Top and Dulmatin were gunned down earlier this year in police raids. Tholut was convicted for involvement in a 2001 bomb blast at a shopping plaza in central Jakarta that left six injured, but released five years later for good behavior. Like dozens of Indonesia's "rehabilitated" terrorists, he is accused of quickly returning to his old ways. The relatively new Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid was allegedly plotting to carry out high profile assassinations, including on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to punish the state for lending support to the U.S.-led war on terrorism. The cell also was plotting Mumbai-styled gun attacks on foreigners, arrested members told police. Nasir Abas — a former militant who has helped police track down and arrest several of his former colleagues after serving a prison term — said Tholut had been a senior combatant in Afghanistan and that he was an "excellent instructor." "Abu Tholut is more dangerous than Dulmatin or Noordin Top," Abas said. Tholut also helped train rebels in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao, Abas said. — AP