INDONESIAN police believe they have shot dead Dulmatin, one of the region's most wanted terrorists and one of the architects of the 2002 bombings, who is believed to have behind a new terror cell training in Aceh.Police say they are waiting on DNA results but believe a man shot dead in a South Jakarta shop today was Dulmatin, also known as "Genius", for whom the US Government has offered a $10 milion US reward and who was one of the dangerous masterminds of the nightclub bombings in Bali.
Dulmatin is believed to have been in hiding in the Southern Phillippines since the 2002 bombings and his re-emergence in Indonesia, running a new terrorist cell, is a massive development in the country's fight against militants and terrorism.
Police operations over the past two weeks have arrested 19 people involved in the Aceh cell and uncovered weapons, training manuals and videos of the 2002 Bali bombings in which 200 innocent people were killed. Two others and three police officers have been killed in the operation.
Police have confirmed the group was training for terrorism but have not revealed the group's intended target.
Initially analysts claimed the group was more likely to have been GAM, a separatist movement in Aceh and not related to terrorism but that view has since changed.
Dulmatin has been one of South East Asia's most wanted men since the 2002 bombings in which he played a major role, helping to assemble the bombs and setting one of with a mobile phone.
A protege of Jeemah Islamiyah's master bombmaker Dr Azahari Husin, Dulmatin also trained in Afghanistan. Dr Azahari was shot dead during a police operation in 2005.
The man killed today was shot dead in a Multiplus shop in south Jakarta. Multiplus is a shop which offers printing, emailing, mailing services. Witnessses said the man, with a long beard, had been inside the shop for about 10-15 minutes, using a computer, when it was raided by heavily-armed Detachment 88 officers.
Gunfire followed, some witnesses said five to seven shots fired. Witnesses said before the raid the man had gone to the second floor, to computer number nine, and had sat down to use it.
Then 30 minutes later police emerged with a body bag.
If indeed it is Dulmatin who has been killed, it is a significant coup for Indonesia's anti-terror police who have been hunting him for years. And it takes out of play one of the most dangerous terrorist masterminds still on the run and capable of planning massive attacks.
It comes shortly before US President Barack Obama is due to visit Indonesia on a two-day visit with his family.