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| Southeast Asia |
| Claim that Dulmatin and Pratek cut ties with JI said to be a ploy |
| 2005-12-05 |
| A RANKING intelligence official said Sunday reports that two top Jemaah Islamiyah operatives had cut their ties to the Indonesian-based terror group could just be a ploy to "soften" the efforts by both the Indonesian and Philippine governments to go after them. "What we see is that they are trying to ease pressure on Dulmatin and Umar Patek, who are on the run," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Dulmatin, a bomb expert, and Patek are suspects in the 2002 Bali, Indonesia, resort bombings that killed more than 200 people. They are also believed to be behind several bombings in Mindanao. The United States placed a total 11-million dollars bounty on their heads. "They're only saying that these two have cut ties to cushion the impact or to soften our efforts to get them," said the official who is familiar with the workings of the JI. US-trained Filipino soldiers are tracking Dulmatin and Patek in central Mindanao although reports indicated they had slipped out of the area. Captured Indonesian militant Abdullah Sunata had told Indonesian authorities that Dulmatin and Patek confided to him two years ago that they had cut their ties with JI because of the intense manhunt for them by Indonesian authorities for their participation in the Bali blasts, The Associated Press reported. They fled separately to Mindanao early that year, the Associated Press said, quoting a report on Sunata's interrogation. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |