US forensic tests prove Abu Sayyaf chief dead

Manila, Jan 20: The leader of the Philippines' most violent Muslim militant group, the Abu Sayyaf, is dead, military chief Hermogenes Esperon today said.

He said US forensic tests on a decomposing body found last month on the island of Jolo have confirmed the dead man was Khaddafy Janjalani, the most wanted man in the country with a 5 million US dollars bounty on his head.

Janjalani is on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's list of most wanted terrorists after being indicted by a US court for the kidnap and killing of American missionary Martin Burnham in 2002.

The Abu Sayyaf claimed responsibility for the Philippines' worst terror attack in February 2004 when a bomb crippled a ferry near Manila, killing more than 100 people.

REUTERS

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