Police search for two JI members in Philippines

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Police, working together with their Philippine counterparts, are hunting down two Indonesian members of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) believed to be undergoing military training at Camp Hubaidiyah in Mindanao, southern Philippines.

The two alleged members of the Al-Qaeda linked organization were identified as Ahmad and Abu Nida.

They had escaped from Indonesia to the Philippines, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Saud Usman Nasution said in Jakarta on Monday.

"We have extracted this information from Abdullah Sonata, who is currently being detained at the National Police Headquarters for his involvement in last year's blast outside the Australian Embassy," he added.

Saud said that based on Abdullah's information, Umar Patek -- one of terrorists behind the 2002 Bali blasts and currently residing in the Philippines, was recruiting more JI members.

The newly recruited members, Saud added, are currently undergoing military training at Abu Sayyaf's training camp in Mindanao as there was a lack of skilled human resources within the JI regional terror group.

At the request of Umar, Abdullah sent several JI members, including Faiz Saifuddin, Nasir and Dedy Rusdiana, to the Philippines last December.

However, the three were immediately arrested by the Philippine authorities.

Hearing the news of the arrests, Abdullah later sent JI members Maulana Musa and Salman, but they were also arrested in Tawau, Malaysia, when trying to leave for the Philippines.

"They're still being detained by the Malaysian authorities," Saud said.

Last June, Abdullah sent Ahmad and Abu Nida and they managed to get to the Philippines. "Now, we are trying to trace their whereabouts," Saud added.

"We're working together with the Philippines police and we are exchanging information to prevent any unwanted incident, such as further bomb attacks," Saud said.

Abdullah himself was arrested in July along with another 14 terrorist suspects in various places in Indonesia, including Surakarta in Central Java, and Jakarta.

In a further development, the Philippines police announced on Monday that they have killed a senior terrorist suspect believed to be Umar Patek.

However, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda and National Police chief Gen. Sutanto had not heard the news.

Sutanto said he would check with the National Central Bureau (NCB) at Interpol to confirm the death of Umar.

Umar Patek had been reported to have been killed by the Philippine authorities early in January 2005, but they failed to come up with proof of identity.