A'LIAN PM CONGRATULATES RI FOR ELIMINATING TOP TERRORIST

Brisbane, Sept. 18 (ANTARA) - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has praised Indonesian authorities over the death of Noordin Mohammed Top, saying his killing by police was a significant achievement.

"This is welcome news and I congratulate the Indonesian security authorities for their success," the Australian prime minister told ABC Radio on Friday.

Rudd said this would cause great damage to the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror group which was responsible for a series of attacks on Australians, including the 2002 Bali bombings.

He said Noordin had been behind numerous attacks on Australians in Indonesia.

"This has been a very difficult operation over a long period of time and the credit goes to the Indonesians through their security agencies for doing this."
Noordin, the mastermind behind a string of terrorist attacks, died in a violent police raid on a militant hideout in Central Java early on Thursday.

Rudd said there was still no room for complacency as JI and al-Qaeda were still alive and well.

"But this is a very significant result. This man is a mass murderer," he said.

"He is responsible for the murder of Australians and I congratulate the Indonesians on their success," Rudd said.

Rudd said Australia would continue to encourage Indonesian authorities to keep on the pressure on the terrorists.

"Our relationship with the Indonesian government in counter-terrorism is very strong," he said.

"We have sought to build on that and expand it further. We cannot afford to be complacent and I believe the Indonesians fully understand and accept that themselves given their own recent experiences," he said.

At a press conference at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta, Thursday evening, National Police Chief Gen Bambang Hendarso Danuri confirmed that one of four terror suspects shot dead during the raid in Central Java, was Malaysian fugitive terror mastermind Noordin Mohammad Top.