ZAMBOANGA CITY, 21 January 2007 — Forensic experts have identified the remains of a man who was killed in fighting in the southern Philippine island of Jolo as that of Khadaffy Janjalani, the leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, a Philippine military spokesman said yesterday.
Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said DNA tests confirmed that the body dug up last month by soldiers was that of Janjalani.
The remains were exhumed in late December after two former Abu Sayyaf militants who surrendered to the military led troops to a shallow grave in the hinterlands village of Kabuntakas in Patikul town where the body was buried. The military said Janjalani was killed in a clash in September.
“The DNA tests are done and it is confirmed that the body was that of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani,” Bacarro told Arab News.
The military previously said Filipino and US forensic experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were conducting DNA testing on tissue samples of Janjalani and his jailed brother Hector Janjalani.
Janjalani took over command of the Abu Sayyaf when his brother, Abubakar Abdurajak Janjalani, who founded the group, was killed in a firefight with policemen in 1998 in Basilan Island.
“The death of Janjalani really is a big blow to the Abu Sayyaf. And the recent killings of Abu Sayyaf leaders Binang Sali and Jainal Antel Sali, Jr. broke the Abu Sayyaf backbone and troops are pursuing the other leaders of the group in Jolo.”
“We will not stop until all terrorists are eradicated. The killings of Janjalani, Binang and Jainal are the results of our nonstop operation against terrorism. This is victory in the fight against international terrorism,” Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commander of military forces in the southern Philippines, said in a separate interview with Arab News in Zamboanga City.
He said troops were still hunting Janjalani’s other lieutenants Radulan Sahiron and Isnilon Hapilon and two Jemaah Islamiyah militants Umar Patek and Dulmatin, whom Abu Sayyaf gunmen are believed to be protecting on Jolo, about 950 km south of Manila. Both Patek and Dulmatin are wanted for the October 2002 bombings in Bali in which 202 people were killed.
The United States yesterday said the death of Janjalani was an important and positive step forward in the ultimate goal of eliminating the terror group and destroying its links with international terrorists. “The US will continue to work with partners in the Philippines’ military, law enforcement, and national and local governments to bring terrorists to justice and to build peace and prosperity in Mindanao and throughout the Philippines,” said a US Embassy statement sent to Arab News in Zamboanga City yesterday.
“The United States congratulates the government of the Philippines on confirmation that the leader of the terrorist organization Abu Sayyaf group, Khaddafy Janjalani, has been killed,” it said.
“Remains found on the island of Jolo in Sulu province in December 2006 have been proven by forensic and DNA tests conducted in the Philippines and the United States to be those of the terrorist leader.
