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A bomb maker in the 2002 Bali attacks that killed 202 people was released from an Indonesian prison on parole on Wednesday after serving half his 20-year sentence, despite the opposition of Australia’s prime minister, who described him as “abhorrent”. Umar Patek was a leading member of the al-Qaeda-linked network Jemaah Islamiah, which is blamed for the bombings at two nightclubs in Kuta Beach. Indonesian authorities have said Patek was successfully reformed in prison and they will use him to influence other militants to turn away from terrorism. Patek 55, whose real name is Hisyam bin Alizein, received a total...

BALI bomber Umar Patek was seeking a meeting with Osama bin Laden when he was arrested a few kilometres from the al-Qa'ida chief's hideout. The arrest in Abbottabad of Patek, the last major figure who was still at large for the 2002 Bali attacks that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, has raised a critical question: did Patek give vital information to the mission to kill bin Laden, or did his arrest by Pakistani intelligence risk upsetting the American operation? Patek was arrested on January 25, nine days after stopping in the mountain garrison town on his way to meet...

Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Thursday confirmed reports that a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) operative wanted for the 2002 deadly bombing in Bali, Indonesia was injured in an encounter with Army troops last August 9 in Sulu province. Esperon said the military has received reliable information confirming that Indonesian terror suspect Dulmatin sustained injuries after fighting alongside Abu Sayyaf members against government troops in Maimbung town. Aside from Dulmatin, the military also believes that Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Doc Abu was wounded while his son was killed in the encounter. Dulmatin is a 32-year-old Indonesian electronics expert suspected...

(UPDATE 4) ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines -- Soldiers have taken into custody the four children of Indonesian bomb suspect Dulmatin during a raid in Simunul Island off Tawi-Tawi on Thursday evening, authorities said. Commodore Emilio Marayag, commander of Naval Forces South, said the children, aged 2,5,7 and 9, were found inside a house in Bacung village that was raided by a composite team of troops from the Second Marine Battalion, the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) 9, and the police Special Action Force (SAF). Marayag said the caretakers of the house, Nursitti and Kilsitta, were also taken into custody after the...

ONE of the two terrorists who made the Bali bombs has been shot dead during a gun battle with soldiers near a militant stronghold in the southern Philippines. The remains of Umar Patek, a member of Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiah, and those of an al-Qa'ida-linked Abu Sayyaf commander were recovered from a creek bed on August 5, three weeks after they were ambushed by special forces. Special forces soldiers launched an intensive operation in early July to find the pair thought at the time to be protected by Khadaffy Janajalani, the Abu Sayyaf leader responsible for dozens of...