Military now doubts skeletal remains belong to Janjalani

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The military now doubts that the skeletal remains found in a shallow grave in the Sulu jungle belong to Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffi Janjalani, the most wanted terrorist in the Philippines.

A highly placed military source, who asked not to be named, said there were "signs of the presence of Janjalani" when Scout Rangers clashed with an Abu Sayyaf-Jemaah Islamiyah band in Barangay Tiis Kutong in Talipao town, Sulu last Dec. 17.

"The time-line of the encounters pointed to the assessment it could not be the remains of KJ (Khadaffi Janjalani)," the source said.

Talipao is a town across Patikul, where Marines found the alleged skeletal remains of Janjalani last Dec. 27 following information from some former Abu Sayyaf members.

About six to seven members of the Abu Sayyaf-JI band were believed killed in the fighting in Talipao.

The military source said one of those killed was believed to be Janjalani and some of his close-in followers, citing the clothes and personal belongings that were recovered.

"Since the encounter, intelligence operatives tracking down Janjalani have not heard of him, except of the JI leaders that include Dulmatin," the source said.

The military source said the recent encounter between troops and terrorists contradicted reports of the alleged recovery of Janjalani’s skeletal remains since a corpse would not decompose that fast.

"Besides, if those skeletal remains belonged to a leader it must be buried decently and not just left in a shallow grave," the source said.

Meanwhile, Sulu Gov. Benjamin Loong told The STAR yesterday that JI terrorist leaders Dulmatin and Umar Patek, masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia, are still holed up in the jungles of Sulu.

"The two are still hiding in Sulu," he said.

Interviewed at the wedding of a son of House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles, Loong said Dulmatin and Patek never had the chance to flee the island because of the intensified military manhunt for them.

The military operations would eventually lead to the capture, if not death of the two bombing suspects, as well as that of the other alleged JI terrorists, he added.

Loong said authorities are also checking the whereabouts of the four children of Dulmatin, who were are believed to have been left in the custody of his sympathizers in Sulu.

"We are still looking for his other children who are reported to be also still in Sulu," he said.

Dulmatin’s two other children were deported along with his wife Istiada Oemar Sovie to Indonesia last month after they were earlier arrested in a military operation in Sulu.

Dulmatin and Patek carry a total of $11-million bounty on their heads from the United States government.

Authorities have also been awaiting results of the DNA test on the alleged remains of Janjalani, who was believed to have been killed in an encounter with troops in Sulu. — With Edith Regalado