Phl anti-terror execs given deadline to quiz JI bomber

MANILA, Philippines - Indonesian authorities have given their Filipino anti-terrorism counterparts until the end of the month to visit and interrogate detained Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomber Omar Patek.

“Our Indonesian counterparts have given us the go-signal to visit and interrogate Patek until the end of the month,” a senior anti-terror official told The STAR the other day.

The JI bomb expert, together with his Filipina wife, is detained in Indonesia following his extradition from Pakistan. He was arrested in Abottabad, Pakistan in late January this year by Pakistani intelligence agents.

Once Patek is finally tried for his involvement in the 2002 Bali bombing that left more than 200 tourists, mostly Australians, dead, the Indonesian court will have complete jurisdiction over him, the anti-terror official said.

“Once he is under the jurisdiction of the Indonesian court we could no longer get near him and talk to him,” he added.

He said it is important for them to visit Patek because he has reportedly started cooperating with Indonesian authorities.

Patek, according to reports, had admitted to his Indonesian interrogators that he was the one who assembled the bombs used in the Bali blast.

“We also wanted to know the extent of his anti-terror operations while still hiding in Mindanao,” the official said.

Patek, who carried a $1-million bounty offered by the United States’ Rewards for Justice Program, fled to Sulu to escape arrest and prosecution in Indonesia.

He and Dulmatin, also a JI bomb and demolition expert, have linked up with the Abu Sayyaf.

While in the Philippines, Patek and Dulmatin were monitored to be in contact with Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, another JI bomb expert sent to Mindanao to train local recruits.

The three are considered high-value targets of the government’s anti-terror operations specifically in Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and Central Mindanao.