RP, Indonesia set up DNA databank for al-Qaeda

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine and Indonesian police are planning to set up a DNA databank to help rapidly identify captured or slain members of the al-Qaeda-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, a top police official said yesterday.

Philippine National Police chief Avelino Razon Jr. said the anti-terrorism project would be developed with Interpol’s help and integrated into the police information systems of the two countries - both key US anti-terrorism allies.

“This will be a useful tool, and we want to have this as soon as possible,” Razon said.

Razon said he discussed development of the databank with Indonesian officials on the sidelines of an international police conference in Hong Kong last week. Police in both countries will focus on obtaining DNA samples of the relatives of dozens of Jemaah Islamiyah members known to be hiding in Mindanao, he said.

The Indonesia-based militant group has been blamed for the 2002 nightclub bombings on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali that killed 202 people. Two suspected Bali bombing plotters, Umar Patek and Dulmatin, are believed to have fled to the southern Philippines in 2003.

Philippine military officials believe Dulmatin, a master bombmaker whose wife identified him as Ammar Usman, may have been killed in a clash with government forces in Tawi-Tawi in January.

American and Philippine experts are conducting DNA tests to determine if the body was that of Dulmatin, who is believed to have been plotting terror attacks in Mindanao.  – AP