BID: Four Manila visitors not in FBI terror list

The alleged Arab "terrorists," who were supposedly frequent visitors to the country, are not among the ones who crashed two commercial jets into the World Trade Center in New York, immigration authorities reported to Malacañang yesterday.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo reported to President Arroyo that the four Arabs, whom local authorities suspected of involvement in the plane attacks, were not among the terrorists identified by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

"They gave the list to the FBI and the information turned out to be negative. Apparently, they only had similar names," Tiglao said.

At the same time, Tiglao clarified that the alert immigration authorities received was not a "travel advisory" against the Philippines but only an "alert" against the transit of suspected terrorists.

"It’s not an advisory but it’s like a general alert by US authorities to other countries to watch out for any suspected terrorist," he said, explaining the US government issued the alert to guard against a second wave of terrorist attacks.

Tiglao reiterated the government’s offer to make available all the country’s air and sea ports as a transit point to the US which is expected to launch a retaliatory military strike against terrorist camps.

"Actually, this is covered by (the prevailing) international civil aviation convention. It does not require special rules. It’s not really a special kind of assistance," he said.

He also reaffirmed Malacañang’s belief there are no longer "terrorist cells" in the country with links to the Al-Qaida terrorist organization of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.

"If you really look at all the data, they referred to a situation in 1995 (but) since that time, (there have been) no solid links yet except for some deductions that if there were Bin Laden links then, there could be Bin Laden links now," Tiglao explained.

He stressed, however, the government policy is to err on the side of caution and assume that there are still remaining links.

Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona also stressed that the alleged links of the Abu Sayyaf group to the Al-Qaida was not an established fact.

The Vice President appealed to media not to highlight the supposed links because it would be bad for the country’s image.

Guingona said he has already issued a directive to all diplomatic posts abroad to quell perceptions that the Abu Sayyaf was still maintaining ties with Bin Laden.

Guingona pointed out the ties between Abu Sayyaf and Bin Laden had been cut off since the death of the group’s founder Abdurajak Janjalani in 1998.

"There is no evidence," Guingona stressed "I will be issuing a directive that there is no existing connection (between the Abu Sayyaf) and the Al-Qaida until now."

Speculations on the links between the Abu Sayyaf and Bin Laden heightened after the terrorist attacks on the US, especially since authorities have established Janjalani was a veteran of the Afghan War and may have trained in Bin Laden’s camps in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Guingona announced he canceled his scheduled visit to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

"I have consulted with other delegations and there was a consensus among us, particularly the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers, to defer the UNGA to a later date," he said.

He said there was a "fixed determination" among ASEAN foreign ministers to defer the UNGA because of security reasons.

Guingona, who was scheduled to leave for New York today, was supposed to hold bilateral consultations with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Lebanon, Angola, Belgium and Israel.

He was also set to discuss with ASEAN foreign ministers the final details of the South Chine Sea "Code of Conduct" which aims to govern relations among countries with claims to the disputed Spratly islands.

At the same time, Guingona announced the re-assignment of Ambassador to Vietnam Jorge Arizabal to Pakistan to oversee the conditions of some 600 Filipinos living or working in Pakistan.

The vice president said Arizabal was given the new posting in view of possible hostilities in Pakistan, especially after it pledged to support the US in its diplomatic position against the Taliban government of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has granted refuge to Bin Laden and has refused to turn him to US authorities, threatening that it would wage war against any of its neighbors that would support the US.

Guingona stressed the foreign office is ready to evacuate the Filipinos in Pakistan at any time but noted there was no need for an immediate evacuation at this time.