RP expels Iraqi diplomat

The government expelled yesterday an Iraqi diplomat linked to an Abu Sayyaf bomb attack in Zamboanga City in October last year that killed an American soldier and wounded another.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople gave Iraq embassy Second Secretary Husham Hussain 48 hours to leave the country after he declared the diplomat persona non grata or an undesirable person for his alleged links with the Abu Sayyaf.

US President George W. Bush phoned President Arroyo Tuesday night to express concern over Hussain’s alleged terrorist ties, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

Bush "pledged his support for whatever steps the Philippine government might take to protect Filipinos and resident Americans from such reported threats," Bunye said.

Asked if Bush suggested Hussain’s expulsion, Bunye said: "Not at all... It is not related to the conversation with Bush." Bunye said Bush called around 9 p.m. while the decision to expel Hussain was made about two hours earlier.

In her conversation with Bush, Mrs. Arroyo reiterated her administration’s position favoring a peaceful resolution of the standoff between Washington and Baghdad. She told Bush the Philippines would support US military strikes against Iraq only if authorized by the United Nations, Bunye said.

Hussain’s expulsion was decided on Tuesday during a late afternoon meeting of a Cabinet panel on internal security, of which Bunye and Ople are members.

Bunye said they "unanimously voted" to expel Hussain when they learned in The STAR’s Internet edition that the Iraqi embassy had issued a statement daring authorities to produce evidence against Hussain.

Ople said he summoned Iraqi Chargé d’affaires Samir Bolus and informed him of his decision to expel Hussain. Ople gave no reason.

"Under international and diplomatic law, a host state need not give any reason for withdrawing the accreditation of a diplomat and in asking him to leave," Ople later explained to reporters.

Bolus "expressed hope that in spite of this incident Philippines-Iraq relationship will go on," Ople added. "It is our understanding that the Iraqi government will not want to do anything that will further sour our relations, but we are also ready for that."

Ople also requested Bolus to ask Baghdad to delay the assignment of a new Iraqi ambassador who is supposed to arrive tomorrow, saying he wanted "to welcome him in a more auspicious time."

Iraq currently has no ambassador in Manila, making Bolus the Iraqi government’s top representative in the Philippines.

Last Monday. Ople said the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) had submitted to him a "highly detailed" report, alleging that Hussain had telephone contact with the Abu Sayyaf.

On Oct. 2 last year, Hussain allegedly received a call from an Abu Sayyaf rebel hours after a bomb attack killed a US Green Beret and three Filipino civilians. Another US soldier was wounded.

Ople did not say if Hussain played a role in the attack.

Both Manila and Washington have earlier linked the Abu Sayyaf to the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden.

The NICA report also alleged that Hussain had also been monitored meeting with "some front organizations" of the National Democratic Front (NDF) at the Iraqi embassy in Manila, Ople said.

The NDF is the political wing of the Community Party of the Philippines. The US considers the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) as terrorist organizations.

Earlier in the day, Ople said he had given Iraq "a few days" to recall Hussain. There was no explanation for the decision to immediately expel the diplomat.

"They are already on notice that this man is not considered desirable by the Philippine government," Ople said. "I prefer to give the Iraqi government a window of opportunity to exercise their own prerogative over recalling its embassy personnel who has been accused by the intelligence (community) of exceeding the bounds of his behavior as a diplomat."

History repeats itself

The incident was not the first time an Iraqi diplomat had been implicated in a bomb attack.

In 1991, Iraqi embassy first secretary Jasim Al-Ani was expelled for his allegedly ties to two Iraqis on a mission to bomb an American cultural center in Makati City run by the US Embassy.

On Jan. 19, 1991 – during the first showdown between the US and Iraq over Baghdad’s invasion of Kuwait – Al-Ani made phone calls to Ahmad Ahmad and Abdul Kadhim Saad minutes before the failed bomb attack.

The two were killed outside the Thomas Jefferson Cultural Center along Gil Puyat Avenue when the bomb went off prematurely. There was no damage to the building.

Two days later, then foreign affairs secretary Raul Manglapus expelled Al-Ani and ordered him to leave within 72 hours.

The Iraqi embassy denied that Hussain or any other embassy officer has been involved with dissident groups, and "dared" the authorities to produce proof.

Ople said the NICA report contained "sufficient evidence" for him to confront Bolus about Hussain. "This matter does not depend on whether he’s convinced or not. It is the prerogative of the sovereign government like the Philippines."

Mrs. Arroyo earlier ordered an investigation into Hussain’s alleged terrorist ties. Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. – at odds with Mrs. Arroyo for supporting the US – said the probe "should be done in an objective and responsible way."

Sen. Manuel Villar, who heads the Senate committee on foreign relations has sought a Senate inquiry. "It is not possible to summon the Iraqi official because he enjoys diplomatic community. We will call on NICA officials to explain their report," he said.

Villar warned that Philippine intelligence authorities have made a "serious allegation" and they therefore must present proof.

If they could not, Villar said "heads must roll" and the NICA’s budget should be reduced. "They will face the consequences of their irresponsible acts."

Bunye said the intelligence community is prepared to present evidence.

Negros Occidental Rep. Apolinario Lozada, who chairs the House committee on foreign relations, however said the government should have "discreetly" raised the issue with the Iraqi embassy. "What they did was totally undiplomatic," he said.

The row occurred amid mounting domestic criticism of Mrs. Arroyo’s staunch support of Bush Jr.’s confrontation with Baghdad over its alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Guingona will lead street protests in front of the US Embassy in Manila today. — With Romel Bagares, Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, AFP