Indonesian woman charged with hiding top terrorist

A 21-year-old pregnant woman will be tried on charges of harbouring Indonesia’s most-wanted terrorist until he was slain in a raid last year, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Putri Munawaroh was married to an aide to Noordin Top, allegedly a regional al-Qaeda commander behind a string of deadly bombings in recent years. Top was killed in a September 2009 raid in which Munawaroh’s husband also was shot dead.

Munawaroh was wounded in the raid and taken into custody while embracing her husband’s body.

She remains in custody awaiting trial and could face 20 years imprisonment if convicted, said prosecutor Totok Bambang of the South Jakarta District Court.

Al-Qaeda-funded terrorists connected to Top are believed to have carried out five major bombings in Indonesia since 2002, including a massive blast in Bali that left more than 200 dead.

The most recent attacks at the Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott hotels was carried out by two suicide bombers who killed seven and wounded 50 in July.

Munawaroh faces allegations of “harbouring terrorists and concealing information about terrorist activities” Mr. Bambang said. She was charged on Tuesday.

She told investigators she didn’t surrender when police arrived at their hide-out in Central Java because she had intended to die as a martyr while protecting Top, a Malaysian who had eluded capture for more than seven years.