Police Still Determining If Noordin M Top's Wife is a Jakarta Terror Suspect

JAKARTA LIFE'S STYLE. National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri confirmed on Wednesday that police were still trying to determine whether Noordin M Top’s alleged wife will be named as a suspect or as a witness in the Jakarta bombings terror case.

Ari Aryani, also known as Arina, could be named as a suspect for hiding Noordin’s whereabouts. Either way, Arina will remain under police custody, Bambang said.

Ari is married to a man whom she knew as Abdul Halim from Makassar, South Sulawesi. Police suspect that her husband is actually the fugitive terrorist Noordin M Top, who was responsible for the first JW Marriott Hotel bombing in 2003 and the Australian Embassy bombing in 2004 in Jakarta. Ari told police that if her husband was in fact Noordin, she was unaware of his true identity.

“So far she and her mother, Dwi Astuti, are only witnesses. According the antiterror law, police should determine their status not more than a week [after their detention],” said Asludin Hatjani, Arina’s lawyer, on Tuesday.

Arina was taken into custody from her house in Central Java last Wednesday with her mother and her two children.

Arina is also the daughter of Bahrudin Latif, the head of Al Muaddib Islamic Boarding School in Cilacap, Central Java. Bahrudin was named as a terrorist suspect after antiterror squad Densus 88 raided his house and found explosives buried in his backyard earlier this month.

Police believed Noordin married Arina to guarantee protection from Bahrudin and ensure Bahrudin would not betray him.