ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) — An Islamic militant wanted in connection with the deadly 2002 Bali bombings and with links to Al-Qaeda is believed to have been killed in the Philippines, the military said Tuesday.
The body of a man thought to be Indonesian bomb expert Dulmatin, one of those behind the nightclub attacks that killed hundreds, was recovered from a shallow grave in the island of Tawi-tawi, said Major General Ben Dolorfino.
"As of now, we are conducting DNA tests to confirm if it is really his body," said Dolorfino, adding that an informant had led them to the grave.
US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Filipino crime laboratory experts have arrived in this southern city to conduct the tests that officials say will take about a week.
Tissue from the exhumed body will be compared with samples that were taken from Dulmatin's children in the southern Philippines last year.
The US government has offered a 10 million-dollar bounty for Dulmatin, a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) movement, who is believed to have been hiding out in the south for most of the past five years.
He was earlier reported to have been wounded in a clash with government troops in the region on January 31.
The recovered body bore gunshot wounds in the head, chest and right foot, consistent with earlier accounts of Dulmatin's injuries in the gunfight, Dolorfino said. This bolstered their belief that the body was that of the Indonesian.
Dolorfino said that if that is confirmed, then "this is a big blow to them (JI) as he is the most wanted personality in the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah" in the Philippines.
The suspect had helped plan and carry out the 2002 bombings in Bali that left 202 people -- many of them Australian tourists -- dead.
Dulmatin is an Indonesian from a wealthy family who is believed to be one of JI's top bomb makers.
The military also Tuesday announced the arrest of another Indonesian believed to be a JI member and Dulmatin associate said to be behind a series of deadly bombings.
Abu Sayyaf -- the smallest and most radical of the Islamic separatist groups in the southern Philippines -- is believed to be providing protection for JI members in return for bomb-making expertise and training.
US troops and military advisers have been here for more than a year providing training and intelligence for the Philippine military hunting JI extremists and the Abu Sayyaf.
Dulmatin and fellow JI Bali bomber Umar Patek have been hiding in the southern Philippines since 2003 with supporters of the Abu Sayyaf, the military said.
Philippine troops, meanwhile, have arrested an Indonesian who is suspected to be a JI member behind bombings in the south in 2006 which left at least a dozen dead, military chief General Hermogenes Esperon said.
The handcuffed man, Mohamad Baehaqi, defiantly chanted "Allah Akbar" or "God is great" as he was briefly paraded out in handcuffs at a military news conference.
The suspect, also known as "Salman" or "Latif" was arrested along with his two Filipino Muslim hosts during a raid in Piso village in the southern island of Mindanao on Sunday.
Explosives and other bomb-making material along with a shotgun and a revolver were seized at the scene, said Esperon.
Baehaqi, who entered the Philippines in September 2003, has admitted to working with Dulmatin and acting as a JI liaison in the Philippines, said Esperon. He faces multiple homicide charges.
The arrest was "a big blow to the terrorists and will further frustrate whatever plans they have," said Esperon.
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