Police: Indonesian president was targeted
08 August 2009
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- A police raid averted an assassination plot against Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, authorities said, as they waited for official DNA confirmation of the death of suspected terrorist Noordin M. Top in another raid.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the House of Representatives on Monday
1 of 3 The plot against the president was uncovered Saturday during a raid on a house on the outskirts of Jakarta, where police found a cache of explosives allegedly intended for the attack, said National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso.
Police found about 100 kg (220 lbs) of explosives along with bomb-making materials and a truck, which they did not immediately open for fear it might have been rigged to explode, said Hendarso.
Indonesian police killed two militants believed to be connected with the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta in which 16 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded, Hendarso added.
In the other raid on Saturday, Top was killed during an 18-hour firefight that began Friday in the Central Java town of Temanggung, said a police source and a security analyst with close ties to the police.
Indonesia's anti-terrorism forces had been hunting Top for the past six years. He is also the main suspect in last month's twin hotel bombings in Jakarta. source: cnn.com