Wife of JI leader deported

Authorities deported yesterday the wife of one of Southeast Asia’s most wanted militants to Indonesia following her arrest in Sulu where her fugitive husband Dulmatin is also being hunted.

Istiada Omar Sovie was turned over to Indonesian authorities, who escorted her on an 8:20 a.m. flight to Jakarta, said Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr.

Sovie was handed over to "escorts from the Indonesian embassy," Fernandez said, adding that two of her sons were with her.

It was unclear if she would face charges in her country.

"She was deported by virtue of summary deportation order after we secured necessary clearances from the military. She has also been put in our blacklist for being an undesirable alien," Fernandez said in a phone interview.

Sovie reportedly arrived in Jakarta at about 1:30 p.m.

Fernandez said Sovie’s deportation was relatively "rushed." She was transferred to the custody of Department of Justice last Monday, and was deported four days later.

Asked whether the swift deportation had something to do with the upcoming summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cebu, Fernandez replied: "I don’t think so. I can’t see a direct link."

Sovie was arrested along with her two sons last Oct. 3 in Patikul as the military mounted a massive US-backed manhunt for Dulmatin and fellow Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant Umar Patek.

JI is believed to be the al-Qaeda’s arm in Southeast Asia and is on Washington’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.

The two are wanted for assembling and detonating bombs in nightclubs in the Indonesian island resort of Bali in October 2002, killing over 200.

They are now allegedly being protected by Abu Sayyaf gunmen who are also on the US watch list.

Sovie told Filipino authorities that Dulmatin and Patek would not surrender alive.

In a related development, government troops are verifying reports that five of the 10 foreign terrorists working with Dulmatin are women, military intelligence officials said yesterday.

The women JI members are also experts in explosives and demolition and are allegedly among those who were training the Abu Sayyaf, according to sources.

Maj. Eugene Batara, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) spokesman said there are reports about the presence of women "bombers" circulating, but this could not be immediately confirmed by the ground commanders in Sulu.

However, Batara said that if the authorities could confirm their presence and they have violated the law, they would be subjected with the operation citing that their being women, especially if they violated the laws, will not be an excuse from the laws.

Sovie earlier named six other foreign JI personalities working with her husband in Sulu. She identified them as a certain Manobo, a Singaporean; Ahmad, a Malaysian; and Agha, Karim, Bahar and Zae, all Indonesians.

During her detention at Westmincom, Sovie however did not elaborate whether there are women among them.

But an intelligence source said the presence of female terrorist members was earlier discovered when a crack squad of Marines penetrated the main faction last Oct. 4 which left Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and Umar Patek wounded.

"The presence in the main core could only mean two things — they are either among the leaders, or they are the wives of the leaders," the source said.

On the other hand, the official doubted that the leaders would have their wives go with them, as he cited the case of Sovie who was not with Dulmatin during her stay in the jungles of Sulu.

During tactical interrogation, Sovie reportedly admitted that she was smuggled into Sulu by Abu Sayyaf members and had served as courier for the terrorists.

Earlier, she requested to remain under custody of the military for fear of possible retaliation of families of victims of Bali bombings once deported back to Indonesia. The government denied her request. — Edu Punay, Roel Pareño, AFP