Key militant's children seized

Dulmatin has a $10m US bounty on his head

Four children belonging to one of South East Asia's most wanted militants have been taken into custody in the southern Philippines, military officials say.

Troops tracking Dulmatin - a suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings - found the young children in a house on the remote island of Simunul.

They believe Dulmatin, an Indonesian national, fled the area hours before.

The children, aged between two and nine, are being handed over to social workers, the military has said.

Dulmatin's wife and two other children were captured last October on the island of Jolo, and deported back to Indonesia.

Philippine troops, assisted by US forces, have been carrying out a major search for Dulmatin and another suspect in the Bali bombings, Umar Patek, in the south of the country.

They believe the two men - thought to be key members of the regional militant group, Jemaah Islamiah (JI) - have been given refuge by the Muslim militant group, Abu Sayyaf.

DULMATIN Born in Central Java in 1970 Believed to be protégé of Azahari Husin, JI's former top bomb maker Named as bombmaker in 2002 Bali bombings Also suspected of involvement in Jakarta Marriott Hotel attack in 2003 US put $10m bounty on his head Thought to have fled to southern Philippines in 2003 to avoid arrest Believed to be training Abu Sayyaf militants in return for protection Wife and children captured and deported from the Philippines in October 2006 Dulmatin: JI's 'genius'

Marine spokesman Lt Col Ariel Caculitan said the children had been found unattended at a rebel safe house on Simunul, an island close to Malaysia's Sabah region.

They were identified as belonging to Dulmatin through intelligence, he added.

"This would mean a blow on his morale," he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

Defence Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane said that while the outcome of the raid was disappointing, the discovery of the children was "intelligence-wise a good development".

"At least if the family is there then the man is somewhere around," he said.

Dulmatin, who has a US $10m bounty on his head, was reported to have been wounded in a gun battle with government troops on the island of Jolo in January.

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