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January 4, 2006
Indonesia: Scene Of Islamist's Final Battle Is Tourist Attraction
On November 9, a gunfight took place near the hamlet of Batu, near Malang in northern Java, Indonesia. The fight between security officers and two rebels within the hideout ended with a massive explosion, which ripped the tin roof off the shack where the two had holed up.
The man targeted in the siege was Azahari bin Husin, nicknamed the "bombmaker". Malaysian born Azahari had briefly studied in Britain, but had become a bomb manufacturer and trainer for Islamist terror organisation Jemaah Islamiyah. Azahari had manufactured the bombs used in Bali in 2002, which killed 202 people, and is suspected of involvement with the Bali bombings of October 1, 2005.
Azahari had not blown himself up; the explosion was caused his associate, Arman, who had detonated a device and blown himself to pieces. A post mortem showed that Azahari had died from a single bullet to the heart. He was identified by his DNA.
Now, according to South Africa's Mail & Guardian, the house where Azahari and Arman died is a busy tourist attraction.
Several hundred people a day are now visiting the wrecked shack, states Danny, a 35 year old local who hawks T shirts with the slogan "the end of Dr Azahari". Video cassettes of the November 9 siege can be bought for the equivalent of $2, and photograph collections are on sale.
Nearby there are orchards, and tourists are willing to buy the fruit. One apple-grower has had more than 200 Malaysian visitors to his orchard in the first three months of December.
"Azahari being here was not good, but now that he is dead, everyone is coming to see the location. Batu has become popular," a tourism official announces.
A caged teddy bear dangles from the intact front fence and a pair of underpants found inside hang unceremoniously nearby. A splatter of brown across one of the few remaining walls is "flesh and blood", the vendors say.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 4, 2006 1:05 PM
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