Indonesian police confirmed that DNA tests proved that wanted terrorist Noordin Mohammed Top was not killed during last week's raid on a farmhouse in Java in Indonesia.

Top is the lead suspect in the July bombings of the near-simultaneous suicide attacks at the JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta. Police initially thought Top was killed during a shootout on Aug. 7 with the Indonesian counterterrorism force known as Detachment 88. Top was believed to have detonated a suicide bomb as police fired on the home and were storming the farmhouse.

DNA tests have subsequently determined that the body of the person killed was that of Amir Ibrohim, another wanted terrorist.

Ibrohim, who is also known as Amir Abdullah, worked as a contractor for the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels and is said to have aided in the July 17 attacks. He was reportedly seen on tape escorting one of the suicide bombers during the those attacks.

Ibrohim is also believed to have been planning attacks that would have been carried out during Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations on August 17. The plot is thought to have included an assassination attempt on newly elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Initial doubts over Top’s death

The veracity of the initial reports of Top's death was challenged on Aug. 8, when a report surfaced that the DNA test proved the person killed was not Top.

"He's not yet dead, in fact DNA tests prove that the body that was recovered was not of Noordin Mohammed Top," counterterrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna told Al Jazeera. But police had not confirmed the report and still believed Top had been killed.

On Aug. 9, police thought Top may actually have been in custody. On Aug. 10, a spokesman for Top's family said the photograph of the person killed did not look like Top.

Top, Southeast Asia's most wanted fugitive

Noordin Mohammed Top became Southeast Asia's most wanted fugitive following the 2003 attack on the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta. He is believed to have masterminded the 2003 attack as well as the 2004 attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta, and the second Bali bombings in 2005.

Originally from Malaysia, he served as a military commander for Jemaah Islamiyah before establishing his own cells across Indonesia in 2003. Top integrated the cells into a formal network called Tandzim al-Qaedat Indonesia in late 2005 and early 2006. Tandzim al-Qaedat Indonesia is believed to still maintain close ties to Jemaah Islamiyah.

While ties between Tandzim al-Qaedat Indonesia and al Qaeda have not yet been confirmed, Top's group has run Web forums that have collaborated with jihadi forums known to be associated with al Qaeda. One such forum released an Indonesian-language propaganda video with the well-known al-Ekhlaas Forum in early 2008.