RP hails U.S. bounty for bomb suspect

RP hails U.S. bounty for bomb suspect

PHILIPPINES: The Philippines welcomed on Sunday a US$10- million U.S. bounty on the head of a senior Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) militant believed to be hiding in the jungles of southern Mindanao island.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Manila hoped the reward offer would help capture Indonesian Dulmatin, who is believed to be receiving shelter from Khaddafy Janjalani, leader of the local Muslim militant group Abu Sayyaf.

"The bounty offered by the U.S. government will definitely drive more civilians and more communities to the manhunt," Bunye said in a statement.

Dulmatin is believed to have been one of the masterminds of the 2002 bombings that killed 202 people on the Indonesian island of Bali. The JI is also being blamed for last week's Bali bomb attacks that left 22 dead.

Washington has also offered a $1 million reward for Umar Patek, another Indonesian JI militant.

The U.S. reward announced on Thursday for information that could help capture or kill Dulmatin is second only to the $25 million offered for Osama bin Laden and Iraq insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Abu Sayyaf is a small group of Islamic militants, featured on the U.S. State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. -- AFP