Philippines says Abu Sayyaf leader killed in clash

MANILA, Jan 17 (Reuters) The Philippines said today that troops had killed the top planner of the country's most deadly Islamic militant group in a clash at a rebel jungle camp in the southwest.

Abu Sulaiman, one of the top five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf militant group and who is believed to have links with al Qaeda, was killed in a gunbattle yesterday on the island of Jolo, military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon told reporters.

''We are confident that with the death of Sulaiman, who is actually the number one planner, most of the activities of the Abu Sayyaf will continue to go down,'' Esperon said.

Late last month, the military said Abu Sayyaf chief Khaddafy Janjalani might have been killed in September and sent tissue from a decomposing body found on Jolo for forensic tests.

''The DNA tests results are not yet with us,'' Esperon said.

''We are told they should be coming in within the week.

If both have been killed, it will be a significant success for the Philippines. The Abu Sayyaf has only 400 or so members, most of them trapped on Jolo island, but it has been held responsible for a series of attacks, kidnapping and piracy in recent years.

Abu Sayyaf has links to Jemaah Islamiah, which is fighting for a pan-Asian Islamic state, and two Indonesians suspected of carrying out the 2002 Bali bombings are suspected to be also in hiding on Jolo.

Sulaiman is believed to have planned the worst attack in the Philippines, the bombing of a passenger ferry off Manila Bay in 2004 that killed at least 100 people.

He is among five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf wanted by the United States for the kidnapping of three of its citizens and 17 Filipino tourists from the Dos Palmas resort on Palawan island in May 2001.

The U S Embassy said it was awaiting confirmation of Sulaiman's death.

At least 7,000 soldiers and some U.S. military advisers are on Jolo, a sprawling, mountainous island, to combat the Abu Sayyaf. A major offensive against the group was launched on August 1.

Officials say troops have since killed 80 of the 400 or so Abu Sayyaf members on Jolo while 20 soldiers have been killed and 90 wounded.

REUTERS MS HT1628