Police issued this photo fit of Dulmatin after
the 2002 Bali bombs |
Dulmatin,
also known as Joko Pitono and nicknamed Genius, is widely believed
to be a senior member of the shadowy Asian militant group Jemaah
Islamiah (JI).
Accused of helping plan and execute the bomb attacks in Bali in
2002, he has so far evaded capture and is currently believed to be
living in the Philippines.
While he has long been on Indonesia's most wanted
list, he now appears to be an important target for the US as well.
A US offer of a $10m reward for information leading to his death
or arrest indicates just how influential officials believe him to
be.
Washington gave the same amount of money to Thailand in 2003, for
its part in the arrest of Hambali - dubbed by the Central
Intelligence Agency as the "Osama Bin Laden" of South East Asia.
Electronics expert
An Indonesian national born in central Java in 1970, Dulmatin
originally worked as a car salesman.
The exact time he became interested in militant activity is
unknown, but he is widely believed to have been the protégé of
Azahari Husin, one of the suspected masterminds of the 2002 Bali
attacks and other bombings in the region.
|
If Noordin and Azahari are the two most
wanted men in Indonesia... Dulmatin and Umar Patek are
probably the two most wanted men in the Philippines
|
Dulmatin is not thought to have had any formal scientific
training, but he appears to have gained significant technical
skills, supposedly under the guidance of Azahari.
According to the Asia Pacific Foundation, the two men are among
the few JI militants able to assemble and explode large chlorate and
nitrate bombs.
Dulmatin is also known to have attended a militant training camp
in Afghanistan, returning to Indonesia in the mid 1990s, where he is
thought to have been a regular visitor at an Islamic school in Solo
founded by Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the man alleged to be JI's spiritual
leader.
Ba'asyir is currently in jail, having been found guilty of
conspiracy for giving his approval for the 2002 Bali attacks.
Dulmatin first became internationally known when named as a key
suspect for the bomb attacks at two nightclubs in Bali on 12 October
2002.
A total of 202 people died in the attacks - many of whom were
foreign tourists.
He is believed to have set off one of the bombs with a mobile
phone, as well as making explosive vests for a suicide bomber and
working alongside Azahari to assemble the massive car bomb used in
the attacks.
Philippine troops are trying to flush out Abu
Sayyaf militants |
Like
Azahari and his suspected accomplice Noordin Mohamed Top, some
analysts believe Dulmatin has also been involved in other bomb
attacks in East Asia, but there is little direct evidence of this.
In fact, since 2003 he is believed to have been based in the
southern Philippines, involved in training other militants at secret
camps.
Earlier this year, he was thought to have been killed in a
targeted air strike by the Philippine military.
But the latest information suggests he is still alive, on the
island of Mindanao, the main location of the Philippines' own
separatist insurgency.
According to regional analysts, there are fears that Dulmatin and
other JI operatives, notably Umar Patek, have formed an alliance
with the Abu Sayyaf, the smallest and most radical of the Islamic
separatist groups in the southern Philippines.
According to the Asia Pacific Foundation, Abu Sayyaf is thought
to provide protection and assistance to JI, while JI provides
bomb-making expertise and training in return.
"If Noordin and Azahari are the two most wanted men in
Indonesia... Dulmatin and Umar Patek are probably the two most
wanted men in the Philippines," Sidney Jones, an analyst from the
International Crisis Group, wrote in September.
"They appear to be not only actively recruiting new trainees, but
helping to up the technical capacity of Abu Sayyaf," she added.