Dulmatin may have been killed in the Philippines

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Friday that his office was seeking confirmation of reports that Dulmatin, a key terror suspect, was among those believed killed in air strikes by the Philippines military.

"I will ask my staff about this information. I have not received any reports about it yet," he said after Friday prayers at the National Police headquarter, Jakarta.

However, Da'i confirmed that Dulmatin had left Indonesia and that the fugitive might have traveled out of the country through Kalimantan or Sulawesi.

Earlier on Friday, the Philippines military said air strikes on a suspected meeting of regional Al-Qaeda-linked group leaders left 40 dead, including possibly two top Indonesian members of the Jamaah Islamiyah terror group.

The military said, however, that it was yet to recover a single body from the marshy area in southern Mindanao that it attacked on Thursday, targeting leaders from regional militant and separatist groups.

"Based on radio intercepts, we learned that 40 rebels were killed including two ranking JI leaders," said Mindanao military chief Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza, quoted by AFP.

He said the guerrillas had dragged their dead away, making it difficult to say how many were actually killed.

Col. Gerry Jalandoni, the commander of the military forces on the ground, was quoted as saying that it was difficult to confirm the death toll because of conditions on the ground.

He added that local residents had reported five people killed including a man believed to be an Indonesian. "It's really very hard (to verify). The area is still very hostile. What we've got are all reports coming from locals," Jalandoni said.

The Philippines military had earlier said three JI members were meeting at the site, among them Dulmatin, who was believed to have been involved in the deadly October 2002 bombing on the resort island of Bali. The other two Indonesians were identified as Maruan and Mauyha.

Da'i said the Indonesian police have placed a liaison officer in the Philippines and that he would expect him to report soon on the reported death of Dulmatin.

If the report was confirmed, the police would use the information to continue the hunt for other fugitives in cooperation with other nations, he added.

Sydney Jones, of the International Crisis Group, told AP that aside from Dulmatin, Umar Patek was among the chief targets of an air strike by the Philippine military, carried out in November last year.