ZAMBOANGA CITY, 10 June 2005 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front yesterday confirmed that two of the suspects in the deadly Bali bombings three years ago are hiding in the southern Philippines and that MILF forces are now hunting them.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the group is closely coordinating with the government authorities in the hunt for Pitono, also known as Dulmatin, and Umar Patek, main suspects in the the twin bombings on the Indonesian resort island that killed more than 200 mostly foreign holiday-makers.
“Our forces are hunting the two suspects who are believed hiding in the hinterlands of central Mindanao region,” Kabalu told Arab News.
The search was triggered by a recent government intelligence report that the duo have slipped into the southern Philippines and could be setting up bases in the region.
Reports reaching the MILF leadership say the suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror network are with at least eight local extremists.
“We have received reports from our commanders on the ground that Dulmatin and Patek have allied themselves with the Abu Sayyaf and we have passed this information to the government,” Kabalu said.
It was not immediately known how and when the two terrorists entered the country, although Philippine military reports last year suggested that Dulmatin was killed in October an airstrike in Maguindanao, about 900 kilometers south of Manila.
The strike came after spies tracked Dulmatin to a meeting with terrorists from the Abu Sayyaf group headed by Khadaffy Janjalani — who had evaded the military for five years — was also reported to have died along with 40 other followers. But the military failed to back up its reports with evidence.
The MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, claimed the pair had forged an alliance with the local Abu Sayyaf group tied to Al-Qaeda terror network.
The Jemaah Islamiyah is believed to have formed links with the Abu Sayyaf up to five years ago. Abu Sayyaf rebels once claimed to have fought for an Islamic state in the southern Philippines, but won infamy around the world for the repeated kidnapping and killings of foreign tourists and local residents.
Government and rebel peace negotiators have signed an accord last year for the creation of an ad-hoc joint action group that would pave the way for joint operation against terrorists hiding in the so-called MILF strongholds in the south.
Dulmatin, a 32-year-old Malaysian electronics expert, has so far been able to avoid the massive police hunt in Indonesia. Dulmatin is Afghanistan-trained and one of the few JI militants able to assemble and explode large chlorate and nitrate bombs.
Indonesian police said Dulmatin was believed to have worked alongside another Malaysian, Dr. Azahari Husin, to assemble the massive car bomb, as well as the explosives vest used by a suicide bomber who attacked the Paddy’s Bar in Bali. Police say he triggered the Sari bomb using his cell phone.
Umar Patek, on the other hand, was one of three men who mixed the explosives used in the Bali bombings.
Aside from Dulmatin, Umar Patek and Dr. Azahari Husin, four others linked to the Bali bombings — Amrozi, Imam Samudra, Mukhlas, and Idris, Ali Imron — were arrested, charged and sentenced in Jakarta. Indonesian police have detained more than 30 people in connection with the Bali bombings.
