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Is this the first step to closure?
“In a statement, David Bowdich, assistant director in charge at the FBI Los Angeles Field office said the agency has now taken [Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan] off its Most Wanted Terrorist list and thanked the Philippine police,” according to a Reuters report.
“Once again, the men and women of the FBI express sincere condolences to the brave officers of the Special Action Force who lost their lives while attempting to apprehend this dangerous fugitive,” Bowdich was quoted in the report.
Marwan’s identity was confirmed by DNA analysis of a severed finger that Philippine authorities collected during an encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan 25 that left 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) dead.
The PNP-SAF troopers had been out to capture Marwan and Filipino bomb maker Abdulbasit Usman. Both men had bounties on their heads placed by the US government: US$5 million for Marwan and US$1 million for Usman.
The operation turned bloody when members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they had to fight back because the PNP-SAF had breached their territory. They alleged that they had not been informed about the operation to get Marwan and Usman.
The hostile encounter lasted 11 hours. The MILF lost 18 of their fighters.
Photo: News clips
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