Paras Indonesia, 10, 07 2005 @ 06:53 pm
US Offers Rewards for 2 Jemaah Islamiyah Members
Roy Tupai
The US State Department is offering big rewards for two members of Southeast Asian
terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah suspected of involvement in the October 12,
2002, Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
A reward of up to $10 million is offered for information leading to location, arrest or
conviction of Dulmatin, while $1 million is being offered for Umar Patek, State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday (6/10/05).
The announcement of the rewards comes less than a week after a new series of
terrorist bombings at three restaurants in Bali killed at least 22 people on October 1.
Authorities have said they believe Jemaah Islamiyah or one of its offshoots was
behind the attacks.
Dulmatin is an electronics specialist and former second-hand car dealer from Central
Java. He trained at al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and is believed to be one of the
masterminds of the 2002 bombings. Police believe he worked with Malaysian fugitive
Azahari Husin to assemble a massive car bomb and an explosives vest used by the
suicide bombers in the attacks on the Sari Club and Paddy's Irish Pub. Dulmatin
allegedly used a cellular phone to trigger the Sari blast.
Patek is believed to have served as the assistant for the field coordinator of the same
bombings, Imam Samudra, who was arrested in November 2002 and sentenced to
death in September 2003. Indonesian police believe Patek was one of three men who
mixed the explosives used in the 2002 bombings.
The $10 million reward for Dulmatin is the second-highest bounty the US is offering in
its war on terrorism. The two most wanted men on Washington's list are al Qaeda
leader Osama bin Laden and Iraq insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, each with
a $25 million price on his head.
The State Department's Rewards for Justice program has already paid more than $62
million for information that led to the arrest or killing of US enemies, including a $30
million payment to an Iraqi businessman who provided data that led to the killing of
Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay.
The Rewards for Justice website has relatively scant details of Dulmatin and Patek.
As of Friday, the Indonesian version of the site does not even include the pair on its
list of Teroris yang Dicari-Cari (Wanted Terrorists).
Neither does the site mention that Dulmatin and Patek are believed to be hiding in the
southern Philippines.
Asked why the US had waited almost three years after the 2002 Bali bombings to
offer the rewards for Dulmatin and Patek, McCormack acknowledged it had taken a
long time to make the decision. "This is a process that takes some time. You want to
identify the people involved in these acts. You want to be able to ensure that if, in fact,
they are caught, they can be brought to justice. And that requires a bit of time,
collection of information and coordination among various parts of the government," he
said.
The State Department announcement said the US is "determined to bring the two
men to justice for their crimes". Those with information on the location of Dulmatin or
Patek were urged to contact the US Mission in the Philippines, any US military
commander, any US embassy, mission, or consulate, or the Rewards for Justice staff
via e-mail (mail@rewardsforjustice.net) or telephone (1-800-877-3927).
Local media reports have said Dulmatin and Patek fled to the southern Philippine
island of Mindanao to seek sanctuary with Khaddafy Janjalani, a leader of the Abu
Sayyaf terrorism organization.
According to a recent Philippine security assessment report, a series of emails
between Dulmatin and Patek and fellow militant Abdullah Sunata (who was arrested
earlier this year in Indonesia), indicated they were seeking funds from the Middle East
for future attacks.
In August, reports from the Philippines said the country's special forces had shot and
killed Patek during a gun battle in July. Subsequent reports said Patek and Dulmatin
were still at large.
The US rewards for Dulmatin and Patek are not the only on offer for Jemaah Islamiyah
members. Indonesia's National Police in 2004 offered the public a reward of Rp1 billion
($97 million) for information leading to the arrest of Azahari. The same bounty was put
out for fellow Malaysian fugitive Noordin Mohammad Top. A separate reward of Rp500
million is offered for information leading to the arrest of their cohorts.
Copyright (c) 2005 - PT Laksamana Global International. All rights reserved
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