Manila--The FBI confirmed Thursday that a senior Malaysian militant believed to have been involved in the 2002 Bali bombings was killed in a January raid in the Philippines that also left 44 police commandos dead.
Zulkifli Abdhir, who was on the bureau's most-wanted list with a $5-million reward on his head, was killed in the January 25 operation that plunged President Benigno Aquino's administration into crisis and jeopardised efforts to end a decades-long Muslim separatist insurgency, the FBI said.
"After a thorough review of forensic data and information obtained from our Philippine law enforcement partners, the FBI has assessed that terrorism subject, Zulkifli Abdhir, also known as "Marwan," is deceased and has been removed from the FBI's list of Most Wanted Terrorists," the FBI Los Angeles office said in a statement.
The national police said the confirmation "validates" their earlier insistence that the botched raid, which caused Aquino's approval rating to tumble to its lowest level since he took office in 2010, was a success despite the huge death toll.
"We have got our man and (the operation) was a success," Philippine national police spokesman Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo said in response to the FBI confirmation.
Poor planning and coordination had been blamed for the deaths of the commandos sent to the troubled southern island of Mindanao to get Zulkifli and a senior Filipino militant leader Abdul Basit Usman, who escaped.
While the forces were able to kill Zulkifli during the raid, they were later attacked by Muslim gunmen who killed 44 of them.
"We are glad we can finally erase all doubts about this death. We are now assured that the notorious terrorist has been neutralised," said Philippine military spokesman Brigadier General Joselito Kakilala.
The government had been left red-faced in 2012 after prematurely declaring Zulkifli dead.
AFP
