Tests on body thought to be Bali bomber

American and Philippine experts began DNA tests today to determine whether remains found in a jungle grave are of an elusive terror suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings who authorities believe was killed in a clash with US-backed troops.

A captured militant from the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group led government troops to a grave in the southernmost province of Tawi Tawi that contained a corpse bearing gunshot wounds and closely resembling Ammar Usman – widely known as Dulmatin, officials said.

“We are conducting DNA test to confirm if it’s really his body,” said marine commandant Major General Benjamin Dolorfino.

US Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson applauded military efforts to hunt down terrorists in the southern region of Mindanao, adding American authorities were helping their local counterparts conduct the DNA testing on the remains.

A master bomb-maker of the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah group, Dulmatin has been accused of helping mastermind the 2002 nightclub bombings in the Indonesian resort of Bali that killed 202 people in Asia's worst terrorist attack.

He fled the following year to the southern Philippines with another Bali bombing suspect, Umar Patek.

Police intelligence officers said the DNA tests would use tissue samples taken from Dulmatin’s wife and six children.

The tests may take one to two months.

The wife and children were separately detained in the southern region of Mindanao in 2006 and deported to Indonesia last year.

Washington has offered a $10m (€6.8m) reward for the capture of Dulmatin, who allegedly trained Filipino militants in bomb-making and helped plot bomb attacks in the country.

US counterterrorism troops have covertly provided intelligence to local troops for years in a bid to capture him.

A marine report said the body’s physical characteristics were similar to Dulmatin’s, the clothing was consistent with what he was known to wear, and there were wounds to the head, chest and right foot similar to injuries he was reported to have suffered in a recent battle with Philippine troops in dense jungle.

A confirmation of Dulmatin’s death would match intelligence information that he died after being wounded in a January 31 clash with troops in Tawi Tawi. He was buried by militants far from the battle site to evade discovery, said marine Major General Juancho Sabban.

A ranking Abu Sayyaf commander also wanted by Washington, Wahab Opao, was killed in that clash. Opao is believed to have provided motor boats to allow Dulmatin, who had harboured plans of returning to Indonesia, to move from island to island, police said.

Marine troops later captured an Abu Sayyaf rebel who took part in the clash, and he led them to Dulmatin’s suspected grave.

“We had information that Dulmatin lost consciousness after being hit by gunfire and he never recovered,” Sabban said by telephone.

The army reported in January 2007 that Dulmatin was believed to have been hit by gunfire in a special forces raid that killed a top Abu Sayyaf leader, Abu Sulaiman.

A US-backed offensive by up to 10,000 Philippine soldiers led to the killing of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani, a Dulmatin ally, in September 2006 and has kept Dulmatin, Patek and other Islamic militants on the run.