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February 21, 2008

Philippines: Is Dulmatin, Islamist Bali Bomb Planner, Dead?

On October 6, 2005 the US State Department announced that a reward of up to $10 million was being offered to an Islamist called Dulmatin and a reward of $1 million for the capture of his associate, Umar Patek. The rewards were being offered under the Rewards for Justice scheme.

Dulmatin was described as an electronics specialist with training in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist organization. Dulmatin was thought to have been one the planners of the bombings on Bali island, Indonesia on October 12, 2002. A total of 202 people were killed, including 88 Australian, 25 British and 7 American victims.

Half Javanese, half-Arabic, Dulmatin used various aliases in his flight from justice. He called himself Amar Usman, Joko Pitoyo, Joko Pitono, Abdul Matin, Pitono, Muktarmar, Djoko and Noval. His real name is thought to be Amar Usmanan.

In late 2005, Dulmatin and Umar Patek had ben hiding, according to various sources, in the Liguasan Marsh on Mindanao, the largest of the Philippines' southern island. This region is both the home base of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, who have been negotiating with the government for autonomous territory, and also Abu Sayyaf. The latter group is an Islamist terror group with links to Al Qaeda and also Jemaah Islamiyah. The most deadly terror attack by Abu Sayyaf took place on February 27, 2004, when they bombed a ferry in the Bay of Manila. In the enduing fire and panic, 116 people died.

The Abu Sayyaf group has also been responsible for numerous beheadings and kidnappings, both of local people including teachers, members of the military and foreign tourists. It has centers on the southern islands of Basilan, Jolo and Tawi-Tawi.

Dulmatin and Patek had been staying at a secret location in Liguasan with the approval of renegade members of MILF. Here they were with the reputed leader of Abu Sayyaf, Khadaffy Abubakar Janjalani. With them were said to be two other fugitive Jemaah Islamiyah members, Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdul Rahman Ayub. The latter individual is the brother-in-law of Australian "Jihad Sheila" Rabiah Hutchinson.

In January 2006, their hideout in Mindanao was bombed by the Philippine military, and they fled to the island of Jolo in Sulu province. Here, Abu Sayyaf members were generally led by one-armed horse-riding rebel Radullon Sahiron (aka Commander Putol), and have mounted armed insurgencies against the military. The US has a military presence on Jolo, where it is engaged with training of Filipino troops.

In September 2006 it was reported that Umar Patek had been injured, and apparently killed on the 4th of that month near the village of Lugas in southern Jolo. It was later reported that Patek was still alive, and there were suspicions that the man who was reported seriously injured may have been Janjalani.

On Wednesday October 4, 2006, Dulmatin's wife, Istiada Oemar Sovie, aka Amenah Toha, was arrested in Patikul in the mountainous southern portion of Jolo island. She was with her two children aged 6 and 8, and was thought to have been engaged in logistical operations for the rebels, as well as cooking and acting as a nurse.

On December 27, 2006 the Philippines military announced that a body that had been found buried in forest territory near Pakitul had been identified as that of Khadaffy Janjalani. In late January 2007, after DNA matching with samples from his 72-year old father, it was announced that the body was undoubtedly that of Janlalani. Some of his family refused to believe this.

In a similar scenario to that surrounding the discovery of the death of Janjalani, it now appears that Dulmatin has been confirmed dead. On Tuesday January 15 this year on the island of Tawi-Tawi, a Catholic priest and two others were kidnapped by rebels in Panglima Sugala town. As they were being taken away, 53-year old Father Reynaldo Jesus Roda struggled, and was shot in the head. Fr. Roda was director of the Notre Dame school in Tabawan town and belonged to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate congregation. Also snatched in the kidnapping raid was Omar Taup, who taught at the Notre Dame school and a fisherman, Hussin Sahirul.

On January 31, an army raid on a house in Sitio Lubok, Panglima Sugala, led to an exchange of fire, and one individual was seriously injured. Another Abu Sayyaf member, assumed to be Wahab Upao, was left dead.

Two weeks later, soldiers recovered a bloody T-shirt that was assumed to have been worn by the man seriously injured in the firefight. The following day, a shallow grave was found, and it was then believed that this contained the body of Dulmatin.

Dr Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group is the foremost expert on Jemaah Islamiyah. She said: "We are pretty sure that Dulmatin is not dead, despite the fact that the Philippine military announced about eight times that he is. I think that we would have heard from other sources if Dulmatin had in fact been seriously wounded or killed. He was wounded at one stage, but there's no other reporting coming in from people in Indonesia. I just think we would have heard more if the body that they uncovered is really his."

There has been considerable argument over whether the body found in the shallow grave in Tawi-Tawi is that of Dulmatin. An Indonesian professor at Mindanao State University maintains that Dulmatin died in May last year. Professor Octavio Dinampo claimed that a cleric, Mohammad Sulaiman, had told him that Dulmatin had been shot in Sulu (Jolo). The cleric said that he had witnessed the terrorist's secret burial in Indonesia. His story has been contradicted by a source with ABS-CBN News who claims to have been with Dulmatin as late as December 2007.

Kristie Kenney, US Ambassador to the Philippines, suggested that officials should wait until DNA testing could confirm that the corpse was that of Dulmatin.

On Tuesday February 19 this week, those DNA tests were in the process of being carried out, announced Philippine marine commandant Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino. These tests are being carried out by the FBI and Philippine police.

The DNA samples to be matched against the body have been taken from Dulmatin's wife and two children. The comparison tests could take as long as one or two months.

A report by Philippine marines has confirmed that so far, the clothing, height and build of the corpse matches that of Dulmatin. Additionally, there are wounds to the head, chest and right foot similar to injuries he was reported to have suffered in a recent battle with Philippine troops.

The information that a man had been injured in the house on Tawi-Tawi, and information on where he had been buried, had been supplied by an informant. This individual is an Abu Sayyaf member called Alfa Moha. If DNA testing confirms that the corpse is that of Dulmatin, then Moha could become extremely rich, with a reward of up to $10 million from the United States.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at February 21, 2008 11:40 PM

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