Police search for two JI members in Philippines

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.