Washington, Aug 15: The White House yesterday announced the capture of a top al-Qaeda planner for Southeast Asia, Riduan bin Isomuddin, also known as Hambali. The 36-year-old Islamic scholar is wanted in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in connection with a series of bomb attacks.
"His capture is another important victory in the global war on terrorism and a significant blow to the enemy," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters from the presidential plane, Air Force One.
A senior administration official called Hambali "one of the world's most lethal terrorists", saying his group, Jemaah Islamiya, was linked to last year's Bali bombing and church bomb attacks in the Philippines.
He is also a leading suspect in the recent J.W. Marriott bombing in Jakarta and a close associate of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a deputy to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who is already in US custody. Bureau Report