The United Opposition yesterday chided the Arroyo administration for having “internationalized lying about its dismal performance against terrorism, and claiming praise from the Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) without a single statement from that body to back such claim.”
Reacting to stories about the Philippine delegation's alleged performance in the just-concluded Apec leaders' meeting in Busan, South Korea, former Sen. Francisco Tatad said the delegation should apologize for having misled the Apec ministers with tall stories of non-existent success in fighting terrorism.
“It's so degrading to see one newspaper scream, 'Apec to RP: Well done,' just because some applause had reportedly greeted the Philippine delegation's false claims. Obviously the foreign audience was simply being polite or they didn't know they were being fed with pure bunkum. Yet nobody from Apec said anything on record to justify the fanciful headline. The world press itself noticed no such response to the Arroyo delegation,” Tatad said.
“Equally humiliating is the report that Mrs. Arroyo had offered the Philippines as a model for other countries to follow in fighting bird flu,” he added.
“It's pure hokum. Mrs. Arroyo had nothing to offer anyone in Busan or anywhere else, not even snake oil.”
In the fight against terrorism, Mrs. Arroyo earlier tagged an ABS-CBN broad-caster for allegedly providing bail to a local terrorist sus-pect — a charge vehemently denied by the journalist and his news organization, but she herself was reported to have freed from gover-nment custody two Arabs said to have links to al-Qaeda last January and March, before their questioning could be com-pleted, Tatad noted.
Earlier reports had identified the two foreigners as Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sughayr and Abdallah Nasir Al-Arifi.
They were reportedly released under the Chief Executive's instructions not to divulge their cases to the public.
Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sughayr is reportedly on list of the United States Pacific Command-Department of Defense rewards program wanted list, with a bounty of $50,000 for information leading to his arrest.
He had reportedly been identified by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation as a financier of regional terror networks, including the Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah and some non-government organizations such as Dar al-Hijra Foundation, and International Islamic Relief Organization.
Al Sughayr was reportedly detained by Philippine authorities on Jan. 17 for questioning.
On Jan. 19, 2005, he was identified by a witness as the one who had financed the purchase of “Desert Storm” uniforms for the Abu Sayyaf and a “speed boat” used in the Dos Palmas kidnapping, where some foreigners were held hostage.
On Jan. 25, he was released from custody, allegedly upon orders of Mrs. Arroyo and flew out of Manila the next day on board Saudi Airlines to Jeddah, continuing on to Riyadh.
On March 16, Philippine immigration authorities detained suspected al-Qaeda operative Abdallah Nasir al-Arifi (or Abdallah Nasir al-Rifa'I), after finding his name on the Philippine watchlist.
On the President's reported instructions, he was released on March 18, and departed on March 21, with the reported understanding that the story be kept out of the media.
“The latest outbreak of fighting between the Abu Sayyaf and government troops in Jolo, Sulu before the Apec meeting is hardly supportive of Mrs. Arroyo's claim of success in fighting terrorism,” Tatad said.
Related:
-- So which terror suspects have you let go again, Mrs. Arroyo?
UPDATE: More on al-Sughayr from the Tribune's Feb. 21, 2005 article (cached version)
The intelligence pointed to the case of Mohammad al-Sughayr, alleged to be a regional terrorist financier, and a known financier of the local Moslem extremist group Abu Sayyaf as well as the Jemaah Islamiyah and even another homegrown Moslem force, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Already caught and detained for questioning by the Arroyo government last Jan. 17, al-Sughayr was reportedly ordered released by Malacañang from custody eight days later, or Jan. 25 this year, at the “request” of high officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Even Philippine immigration officials have publicly pointed to al-Sughayr as the financier of the Abu Sayyaf, but let him go anyway, after it received orders from Malacañang to do so.
A detained Abu Sayyaf gunman, one Muhhamad Umug, positively identified al-Sughyar as one of the financiers of the extremist chieftain, Khaddafy Janjalani.
Despite positive identification, the Saudi was ordered released, without charges slapped against him.
Immigration sources have confirmed this to the Tribune and said their “chiefs” were told to free the suspected financier as unnamed Saudi officials allegedly made it clear to Mrs. Arroyo and her security officials that Riyadh “in disappointment” may start putting the squeeze on overseas Filipino overseas in the kingdom, which would deprive the Arroyo government of the workers' hefty dollar remittances to Manila.
Fearing that more job opportunities will be closed to the OFWs in the Middle East, Mrs. Arroyo was said to have caved in to the Saudi officials' request.
It has been confirmed that the Saudi ambassador to the Philippines was with the Philippine President on a flight to Davao last Jan. 24, a day before al-Sughayr was ordered released.
It was also alleged that the Saudi officials relayed the message that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had helped the Arroyo government many times in the past, including working for the release of hostaged Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz, as well as the surgery on conjoined Filipino twins.
“Just like her (Mrs. Arroyo's) caving in to the demands of the Iraqi terrorists (for her to pull out a Philippine military contingent in Iraq in exchange for De la Cruz's life), she also caved in to the demands of the Saudis to free al-Sughayr,” the military intelligence officer pointed out.
“She (the President) always barks out orders to get rid of the terrorists, but instead of helping us (law enforcers) in our fight against the terrorists, she allows them to slip away every time. How are we expected to finish these terrorists?” the military source asked, in obvious frustration.
He stressed that despite being given “solid information” by American intelligence agents on terrorist activities in the Philippines, “we can't even hold on to them (terrorists) because President Arroyo always buckles down to the demands of these influential people linked to the terrorists.”
Al-Sughayr is said to belong to a prominent family in Saudi Arabia and enjoys “close connections” with powerful officials in the kingdom.
The United States Pacific Command, Department of Defense Rewards Program has put a $50,000 bounty on his head for any informantion that could lead to his capture.
The military officer told the Tribune that the order for al-Sughayr's release by Malacañang was “unforgivable” because the Saudi is directly involved in acquiring for the Abu Sayyaf arms and equipment.
He said even the speedboat used by the Abu Sayyaf in the abduction of mostly Western tourists in the Las Palmas resort in Palawan a few years ago, among them Americans Guillermo Sobero and missionaries Gracia and Martin Burham, was supplied by al-Sughayr, who has been alleged to have financed the Dos Palmas kidnapping.
The Tribune source said intelligence reports point to al-Sughayr as also being behind financing operations of several non-government organizations (NGOs) in the Philippines, among them Dar al-Hijra Foundation, International Islamic Relief Organization and even the MILF.
The same intelligence reports, the intelligence officer said, also point to these al-Sughayr-financed NGOs as alleged conduits of funds from Saudi Arabia to terrorist groups in the Philippines.
The activities of the group of al-Sughayr are known to Phiippine authorities.
The president of Dar al-Hijra Foundation is said to be a close associate of al-Sughayr, one Nedhal al-Dhalan, who was arrested by Philippine authorities on May 10, 2002 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and deported later to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Dhalan is said to have strong links to Osama bin Laden terror cells in the country.
It has also been alleged that funds and contributions from international Islamic organizations intended for Islamic schools and mosques have been diverted by the Dar al-Hijra Foundation to the local terrorist groups to fund training programs and for the purchase of weapons for these groups.
Al-Sughayr is also said to have assisted in putting up the Islamic Information Center, which was raided by the Philippine police last Jan. 7.
The raid yielded several illegal firearms and explosives.
Immigration sources have told the Tribune that during the interrogation, al-Sughayr claimed to make frequent visits to the Philippines as he was in the business of getting Filipino workers for Saudi commercial companies.
He also claimed that during his last visit to Zamboanga City in Mindanao, where he was already being monitored, he intended to purchase offerings and distribute them to the poor people of the Philippines, and to supervise the mosque he was putting up, saying all his activities were legal and that he had documents to prove this.
Previous articles:
FOXNEWS: Suspected Al Qaeda Terrorist Nabbed
Friday, March 18, 2005
MANILA, Philippines — A man suspected of Al Qaeda (search) links has been detained after arriving at Manila airport from Saudi Arabia and may have been handed over to U.S. officials, Philippine immigration officials said Friday.
The man, identified by the officials as Saudi Arabian national Abdullah Nassar al-Arifi (search), 34, appears on an FBI list of terror suspects, and may have links to the Sept. 11, 2001 (search), attacks in the United States as well as the 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia, the officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
He was detained shortly after arriving on a Philippine Airlines flight from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Wednesday, the officials said.
An immigration official said U.S. federal agents took custody of the suspect, but other officials said he was still being held by the Philippine immigration bureau and that U.S. officials were taking part in an investigation.
No other details were immediately available.
The U.S. Embassy did not comment on the case.
From Arabnews:
Filipino Immigration chief Alipio Fernandez said the Saudi national was positively identified by a detained militant Muhammad Umug as one of the financiers of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani.
Authorities linked Umug to a series of bomb attacks in the southern Philippines.
“Sughayer has been positively identified by one neutralized member of the Abu Sayyaf — Muhammad Umog — as the one who is also giving financial support to Janjalani’s family (in Basilan island),” Fernandez said at a news conference yesterday in Manila.
Television footage yesterday also showed the heavily bearded Sughayer, clad in a dark-colored shirt and pants, covering his face with a newspaper while avoiding dozens of reporters and photographers, who waited for him at the immigration office in Manila. Two security men were spotted escorting Sughayer.
Police intelligence chief Ismael Rafanan cleared the foreigner and said they had no evidence to link him to Al-Qaeda or terrorist groups in the southern Philippines. “He is not a member of the Al-Qaeda and he is not a terrorist,” Rafanan told reporters in Manila.
But Fernandez said he would still deport Sughayer. “We have reports from the intelligence community about Sughayer, we should be extra careful here and we will deport him back to Saudi Arabia,” Fernandez told Arab News.
Nice.
UPDATE: Bali bombing 2002 and al Sughayer from Wikipedia.
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