FBI confirms DNA sample came from Marwan

 

Source: GMA News team

(Updated 9:48 a.m.) The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday said the DNA sample it received from Philippine authorities showed it came from wanted international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan.

 

Malaysian terrorist Marwan of the group Jemaah Islamiyah was the main target of the Jan. 25 police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, which claimed the lives of 44 Philippine National Police-Special Action Force personnel.

 

The PNP-SAF commandos shot Marwan dead and cut off his finger for DNA analysis and identification, according to a preliminary report of the PNP's Board of Inquiry.

A photo exclusively released earlier to GMA News by a SAF commando from the 84th Seaborne Force showed a bloodied cadaver, said to be that of Marwan, with an index finger missing.

 

Marwan, described as Southeast Asia's Osama bin Laden, was one of the most wanted terrorists of the FBI. He was blamed for many bombing incidents in the region, including the one in Bali, Indonesia, in 2002.

 

The FBI, which offered $5 million for information leading to Marwan's arrest, earlier confirmed receiving a biological sample from the Philippines following the operation in Mamasapano, a GMA News report said Wednesday.

Here is the full statement of the FBI.

 

Statement by David Bowdich, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office:

 

As previously announced, following an apprehension operation by the Philippine National Police, the FBI received from our Philippine counterparts a biological sample of an unknown individual for testing.  Evidentiary analysis at the FBI Laboratory is one of many services we provide to our law enforcement partners around the world.  As we have reported to our Philippine law enforcement partners, preliminary results indicate that the DNA profiles obtained from the biological sample indicate a possible relationship with a known relative of Zulkifli Abdhir aka Marwan.  Although the results of the DNA examinations do not provide absolute identification, the results do support that the biological sample provided by Philippine authorities came from Marwan.  Further testing and analysis will be conducted by laboratory examiners in an effort to fully identify the subject of DNA provided to the FBI.

 

The FBI's case against Marwan is one of many investigations we have conducted in cooperation with our Philippine counterparts.  We express our deepest condolences to the brave officers of the Special Action Force, who lost their lives while attempting to apprehend a dangerous fugitive.  Our partnership with the Philippine National Police is among the strongest in the world, and we will continue to work in close cooperation to identify, disrupt, and dismantle terrorist networks.