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ZAMBOANGA (Philippines) - A FORMER Muslim militant has identified a body found in a shallow grave in the southern Philippines as Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomb maker Dulmatin, a military spokesman said on Thursday.
Dulmatin fled Indonesia shortly after playing a role in the deadly 2002 Bali bombing in which more than 200 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
Major Eugene Batara said the body found last week on the island of Tawi-Tawi on the southern tip of the Philippine archipelago has yet to be formally identified.
He said DNA tests being carried out by the FBI and Philippine police will determine the body's identification.
Dulmatin is believed to have been killed in a clash with the military on Tawi-Tawi on Jan 31.
Security analysts and Indonesian police have however expressed doubt that it is his body.
Major Batara said Alfa Moha, a local member of Filipino militant group Abu Sayyaf, had told them where the body was buried.
He said Moha met Dulamtin last year shortly after being recruited by the Abu Sayyaf.
Dulmatin and fellow JI member Umar Patek have been hiding in the southern Philippines for the past five years, protected by the Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for the worst terror attacks in the nation's history.
The US government has offered a US$10 million (S$14 million) bounty for Dulmatin, a senior JI figure. -- AFP
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