InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian police have sent a special team to help identify three terror suspects killed in an air strike by the Philippine Air Force on a hideout of the Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Malaysia would like to confirm if Malaysians Zulkifli Abdul Hir alias Marwan, a senior leader of the Jemaah Islamiya, Bacho and Jeknal Adil, members of the Sabah Darul Islam (DI) group, really died in the air strike early Thursday.
The Philippine military said Abu Sayyaf founder Gumabahali Umbra Jumdail, alias Dr. Abu and Abu Pula, and Singaporean JI officer Muhammad Ali bin Abd Al-Rahman alias Muawiyah, also died in the air raid, which reportedly killed at least 15 extremists. But the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Friday admitted that they did not actually recover the bodies of the terrorists, and were only relying on information from their "assets" in making their claim.
"(The Malaysian police) is liaising with the Philippine National Police to provide DNA samples of Zulkifli's family for confirmation purposes," the Malaysian minister said in a statement from Kuala Lumpur Friday.
Hishammuddin said if the identities of the bodies is confirmed, the police would bring them back to Malasyia for burial.
He said police were awaiting confirmation on the two DI members, who were believed to be with the Abu Sayyaf during the air strike.
Bacho and Jeknal Adil had escaped police arrest during an operation in November last year, he added.
