New alliance for terrorist on the run

JAKARTA - Terrorist mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top, who narrowly escaped capture earlier this month, has taken yet another wife, a well-connected Islamic academic says.

Al-Chaidar, a lecturer at Aceh's Malikussaleh University, says Noordin married a 19-year-old woman named Novi Lutfianti in Pandeglang, in Java's west, in mid-August.

Al-Chaidar, who is a member of Darul Islam (DI), one of Indonesia's oldest Islamic groups, says Noordin is a friend of the woman's parents, who also belong to DI.

"I have confirmed this many times and I believe Noordin Top has married again," Al-Chaidar said.

"She just graduated from high school, and I've been told she's 19 years old."

Experts say Noordin uses marriages to strengthen his network of supporters, who help him evade capture.

Al-Chaidar believes the latest wedding occurred after an anti-terrorism raid on a farmhouse in Temanggung, Central Java, in which police initially believed they had killed Noordin.

It later emerged they had killed Ibrohim, the field commander for last month's attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels that killed seven.

Singapore-based terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said: "But there's a pattern among jihadists, that they marry to cement ties with a particular clan, or tribe, or region, to build support. And we have seen that Noordin Mohammed Top's ability to operate in Indonesia depends very much on the personal connections he can build."

- AAP