T

he National Police on Wednesday said it was Ibrohim, not Indonesia's most-wanted fugitive Noordin M Top, who was shot dead during an overnight siege in Temanggung, Central Java, on Saturday.

Nevertheless, the police said, Ibrohim (alias "Boim") had played significant roles in the July 17 bombings of the J. W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in South Jakarta.

"We have checked the deceased's finger prints and matched his DNA with that of members of Ibrohim's family from Cilimus *in Kuningan, West Java*," RS Soekamto Police Hospital head Brig. Gen. Eddy Saparwoko told reporters at a press conference at the hospital.

"The result was positive. We are convinced the remains are those of Ibrohim, the missing florist."

Along with Ibrohim, Eddy said, police had also examined four other bodies - the remains of Air Setyawan, Eko Joko Sarjono, Dani Dwi Permana and Nana Ichwan Maulana. The last two were allegedly suicide bombers involved in the recent Jakarta hotel attacks.

National Police chief spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna said police vowed to continue pursuing terrorists including Noordin.

"Noordin is still out there and therefore we are still facing the same threat as before. The fight against terrorism is still far from over," he said.

Previously it had been speculated that police had cornered Noordin during the Temanggung raid, although police' findings later suggested otherwise.

Commenting on this, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the police should be highly appreciated despite the fact that Noordin was still at large.

"I believe this is a good achievement even though it was not Noordin M. Top as reported in the news," Yudhoyono said at the presidential palace.

Investigations had revealed it was Ibrohim who organized the bombing preparation meetings, and who had organized to smuggle the bombs into the hotel, Nanan said.

"The meetings were always led by Noordin M. Top himself, but Ibrohim was the one who set up strategies, conducted thorough surveys of the locations and smuggled the bombs into the hotels," he said.

The first meeting had been held at a hotel in Kuningan on April 30, Nanan said.

Police investigations had also revealed that the bombs were smuggled into the Marriott just one day before the blast. The bombs were transported through the hotel's loading dock using a pick-up truck rented by Ibrohim.

Ibrohim was recruited in 2000 by Saifudin Zuhri, his brother-in-law, while he was working as a florist at the Hotel Mulia. In 2005, Ibrohim and Zuhri were inaugurated as members of Noordin's special forces, Nanan said.

"Ibrohim was also the one who suggested the *Marriott* should be targeted because he had seen that the area was often used by foreign businessmen," Nanan said.

Meanwhile in Kuningan, West Java, villagers of Samparo village where Ibrohim had lived refused to have him buried there on the grounds that he was a disgrace to the village, as well as the fact he was a migrant.