Possible al-Qaeda targets secured

Government officials denied yesterday a new plot by Islamic extremists to bomb the US and Israeli embassies in Manila, but said security around possible al-Qaeda targets had been stepped up nationwide ahead of the Sept. 11 anniversary.

"It’s not really new," National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said, referring to a report by Cable News Network (CNN).

"On orders of the President, we have secured all vital installations and establishments, including the US, Israeli and British embassies," he said. "This is part of the standard operating procedure and we should not be worried about this al-Qaeda threat... There is no immediate threat right now from al-Qaeda."

"The Armed Forces and the police have taken appropriate measures," Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes also said.

CNN, quoting its own sources, reported late Monday that Islamic terrorists were planning to attack the US and Israeli embassies.

The broadcaster quoted statements to investigators attributed to Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, a Kuwait-born Canadian arrested in March, now in US custody.

"He’s an arrested terrorist and comes with excellent credentials," Reyes said. "We have to take the threat very seriously."

Jabarah reportedly told US interrogators the terror group has plotted to attack unspecified targets in the Philippines, Reyes said. He did not clearly say how he learned of the threat.

CNN said Philippine officials were notified by US security about Jabarah, who reportedly revealed that al-Qaeda planned to attack the embassies after a plot to bomb Western targets in Singapore was discovered and foiled by authorities early this year.

"The specific targets were not specified to me," Reyes told dzRH radio. "What was just said was there were certain targets and so we are taking care of these... likely targets."

According to the CNN report, the plot was hatched by operatives of al-Qaeda, the Islamic militant network led by Osama bin Laden which has been blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We are not aware of any specific threat related to Sept. 11, but the security establishment is always alert," Golez said on dzRH .

US officials declined to comment on the reported threat on potential targets in Manila.

Jabarah was arrested in Oman early this year and later brought and detained by the US military in the northeastern United States.

US law enforcement officials believe he directed an al-Qaeda plot to destroy the US embassy and other Western targets in Singapore, officials have said.

Singaporean officials announced in January it had foiled a plot by terrorists linked to al-Qaeda to blow up Western embassies, US navy vessels, a shuttle bus carrying American soldiers and the offices of US companies.

NBC News reported in July that Jabarah admitted to directing the al-Qaeda plot to blow up government buildings in Singapore and making a video of the targets.

NBC added that Jabarah was cooperating by providing new information about al-Qaeda’s operations, including terrorist plans drawn up since Sept. 11. He has agreed to testify in future trials of suspected al-Qaeda members, according to NBC.

Since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last year, Golez said the Philippines had anticipated that certain foreign embassies in Manila, including the US, British and Israeli missions, "could become targets."

"So from that day our security has been doubled at these embassies," he said.

In the television interview, Golez said the fresh security measures were intended to head off possible copycat attacks.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza on Monday ordered heightened security at ports of entry as well as at railway and telecommunications facilities.

"There might be some unscrupulous groups who may take advantage of the significance of that day," Mendoza said in a statement.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane put police forces nationwide on "heightened alert" last week ahead of the Sept. 11 anniversary.

The United States earlier included on its list of foreign "terrorist" organizations the Abu Sayyaf operating in Mindanao as well as the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army.

US military advisers helped Philippine troops in a campaign against the Abu Sayyaf earlier this year. Both governments allege the bandits were at one time linked to the al-Qaeda network.

In Washington, the State Department warned US citizens around the world of the threat of new terror strikes surrounding the Sept. 11 anniversary.

Earlier Monday the US government said it was closing two diplomatic missions in Indonesia to the public because of terrorist threats. — With reports from Marichu Villanueva, Edith Regalado, Sheila Crisostomo, AFP