COTABATO, Philippines (Xinhua) - A Philippine military spokesman denied on Saturday the existence of eight foreign Jemaah Islamiyah bomb experts who were conducting trainings in Mindanao region, citing there were no imminent threats so far in the region except for activities of Muslim rebels. Lt. Col. Benjamin Hao, spokesman of the 6th Division based in Maguindanao, said by phone that the information revealed by Professor Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, claiming one of the eight terrorists, a ''bomb expert'' replacement of Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, who made contacts with Abu Sayyaf, is half truth. Al-Ghozi, the highest ranking JI leader to be jailed in the Philippines, escaped from prison in July 2003 and was killed four months later. ''We don't know where this guy gets all his information. If the public wants to believe in his (Banlaoi) revelation, it's up to them. But for us, we have no information about possible threats in the region,'' Hao said. Banlaoi said his institute had been monitoring the man's movements through its contacts in Sulu and Maguindanao. In Maguindanao, the terror bomb expert had been conducting military training among residents of the Buldon complex.
Two other terrorists hiding in the country include Jemmaah Islamiyah bomb experts Omar Patek and Dulmatin, both accused of several bombings in the region. Patek is believed to have served as the assistant for the field coordinator of the Bali bombings while his companion, Dulmatin, an electronics specialist with training in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, is a senior figure of the JI. Another terrorist is Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan who has been in the country since 2003 and has a five-million dollar bounty for his arrest. ''The only threat to us is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. They have ongoing trainings now. But we have peace talks. If these trainings have to do with terrorism, we will stop them,'' Hao said.
