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Saturday, January 20, 2007
DNA tests confirm Janjalani's death (5:35 p.m.)
MANILA -- DNA test results have confirmed the killing of Khaddafy Janjalani, the head of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, during a clash with Philippine troops in September, the government said Saturday.
The news came four days after US-backed Philippine troops killed senior Abu Sayyaf commander Abu Sulaiman, marking a major victory in a US-backed campaign to wipe out Islamic militants in the south of the archipelago after years of bombings and kidnappings.
Janjalani's death was confirmed after DNA tests were conducted in the US to compare tissue samples taken from remains found buried in the jungles of southern Jolo island in December with those of Janjalani's imprisoned brother, military Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said Saturday.
"The Armed Forces of the Philippines is proud to announce that we have neutralized the center of gravity of terrorism in the Philippines," Esperon said in a news conference, hours after receiving a faxed report of what he called a conclusive DNA test conducted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Janjalani, who carried a US$5 million (euro3.86 million) bounty on his head offered by Washington, had been arrested but escaped from a detention cell at the national police headquarters in 1995. He took over as Abu Sayyaf chieftain after his elder brother, group founder Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, was killed in 1998. (AP) |
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