Police step up terror hunt

POLICE said they were narrowing in on a south-east Asia terror ringleader yesterday, with thousands of troops going door to door, checking cars, and combing railway and bus stations in central Indonesia.

The hunt for Malaysian fugitive Noordin Mohamad Top, believed to be a key member of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, follows the death of his close ally Azahari bin Husin, who was killed in a police raid on Wednesday.

The discovery of more than 30 bombs inside Azahari’s hide-out, many of them small devices easily contained in backpacks, set off speculation that Jemaah Islamiyah was planning more terror strikes and added urgency to the hunt.