Sidney Morning Herald
Amid fears that Indonesia's most wanted terrorist will strike again, some police have a new theory: Noordin Top is using hypnotism to elude capture and recruit more suicide bombers.
The senior Jemaah Islamiah operative - blamed for both Bali bombings and a series of other attacks - has time and again escaped the clutches of the law during the past three years.
Just two weeks ago he slipped through a massive dragnet again, even though counter-terror officers did shoot dead Azahari Husin, Noordin's bombmaker partner.
Among the few things left behind by Noordin was a graphic video in which he specifically warned Australia that his band of Islamic extremists would strike again.
In Azahari's hideout police found plans for a "Bom Pesta" - or bomb party - this coming Christmas with several churches and shopping malls earmarked for attack.
As fears rise, reports say some police in notoriously superstitious Indonesia believe Noordin may have the ability to hypnotise people, using his mental powers to escape his pursuers and recruit more bombers.
"A village chief fell unconscious after kissing the hand of a man resembling Noordin," one policeman told the latest edition of Tempo news magazine.
The magazine said the chief's mind went blank "like he was hypnotised" after meeting a "tabib", or traditional healer, who looked like Noordin.
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