Abu Sayyaf coddling 3 more JI members in Sulu -- military

By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 12:48pm (Mla time) 01/02/2007

AT LEAST three more Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members, aside from the two alleged masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombings, are hiding with the Abu Sayyaf in the jungles of Sulu, a military commander in the area said Tuesday.

"There are five JI [members] in Sulu. It can be more than five, but we identified only five, including [Umar] Patek and Dulmatin," Brigadier General Juancho Sabban, chief of the 3rd Marine Brigade, told reporters.

Sabban said there was "no let up" in pursuit operations, which had been ongoing for the last five months, to finish off the Abu Sayyaf and the JI in Sulu.

"The operation has not ended… In fact, our troops did not have Christmas and New Year [breaks]," he said.

Military intelligence and former Abu Sayyaf members who led authorities to the supposed gravesite of bandit chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani have confirmed the presence of the other JI members with Patek and Dulmatin.

The alleged Janjalani remains were dug up last December 27 in Patikul town, the site of a fierce encounter between the Abu Sayyaf and Marine forces last September 4.

The remains were turned over to the Philippine National Police (PNP) for DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) testing to confirm if they were Janjalani's.

Sabban said bomb materials seized from an Abu Sayyaf-JI camp on Tuburan hill in Indanan town late last year proved that the JI was training the Abu Sayyaf on bomb-making.

Then defense secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. described the seized explosives as "sophisticated" and similar to the bombs used by the al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

The Abu Sayyaf and the JI, the alleged Philippine and Southeast Asian links respectively of the al-Qaeda global terror network, are responsible for the bloodiest terror attacks in the region.

In October 2002, the JI bombed the resort island of Bali in Indonesia, killing over 200 people, mostly Australian tourists.

In February 2004, the Abu Sayyaf and the JI bombed the Superferry 14 off Manila Bay, killing over 200 people and injuring dozens of others.

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