The Jakarta Post, 5/13/2007 6:47:15 PM
Indonesian militant's wife requests release of children held by
Philippines
PEMALANG, Central Java (AP): The wife of one of Southeast Asia's most-wanted
terror suspects has asked the Philippines to release four of their children who were
found in a suspected militant hide-out, a relative of the Indonesian woman said
Sunday.
Philippine soldiers and police raided the hide-out in a southern province on Friday and
found the four children of Dulmatin, an al-Qaida-linked militant suspected in the 2002
Bali nightclub bombings, abandoned there, according to a Philippine
militaryspokesman. The children, aged 2 to 9, were handed to local social services
personnel.
Dulmatin's wife, Istiada Binti Omar Sovie, and two other children were detained on the
southern Philippines island of Jolo in October and deported to Indonesia a month
later. In the process, Istiada wasseparated from her four other children.
Istiada broke down in tears when she learned that the four children were found
neglected during the raid on the suspected rebel hide-out, said Istiada's brother,
Ibrahim Azi.
"She is very shocked and unable to talk," Ibrahim told The Associated Press. "She
begged the government to return them to their mother here, because they are
innocent."
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