MANILA - At least five members of the Jemaah Islamiya terrorist group, including two Bali bombers, are hiding with Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines, a military official said yesterday.

"There may be more than five but so far, we have identified five of them," said Brigadier General Juancho Sabban, adding they are being sheltered by the Abu Sayyaf group in Jolo, a southern Philippine island.

"The Abu Sayyaf is protecting them because they cannot operate on their own in the Philippines," said Sabban whose troops have been hunting the Abu Sayyaf band in the jungles of Jolo since August last year.

He said military intelligence confirmed the presence of the five JI members in Jolo but the only ones whose names were released were Indonesians, Dulmatin and Patek who are wanted for assembling and detonating bombs in nightclubs in the Indonesian island resort of Bali in 2002, killing more than 200.

The JI is believed to be the southeast Asian arm of the Al-Qaeda terror network. The Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for the worst terror attacks in the Philippines, also has links to Al-Qaeda.

Both the JI and the Abu Sayyaf are on Washington's list of foreign terrorist organisations.

Last week, the military said it recovered what it believes are the remains of Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani from a shallow grave in Jolo.

Authorities are still awaiting DNA testing to confirm the identity of the corpse.*AFP

back to top