Zealot who wanted a pan-Islamic state was a suspect in every regional bombing
The shadowy figure of Riduan Isamuddin is allegedly behind every terrorist attack in Southeast Asia in the past three years. Intelligence experts have linked him to key operations by al-Qaeda, including the attack on September 11, 2001, in the United States.
Little wonder the US' Central Intelligence Agency referred to the man, better known as Hambali, as the Osama bin Laden of Asia.
The similarities to bin Laden and his network are not restricted to just style, experts claim. Hambali is said to have founded the Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) with al-Qaeda's structure, operations and aims in mind.
With such a pedigree, he became the immediate suspect for every bombing in the region and sought by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. His disappearance from intelligence radars after the September 11 attacks added to the mystique and built his stature among the increasing number of fundamentalist Muslims.
Hambali, who is 39, was one of 13 children born to an Indonesian peasant family in West Java. His Islamic fervour evolved in religious schools under the religiously repressive Suharto regime. To nourish his beliefs, he went into self-exile in Malaysia.