PNP on guard vs sympathy attacks

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said yesterday the arrest of 11 Iraqis and other "Middle Eastern foreigners" is part of the government’s campaign to prevent pro-Iraqi groups from attacking American interests in the country.

Speaking to reporters at Camp Crame, Quezon City, Ebdane said the operation is being undertaken in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration following reports that foreigners are behind the series of anti-US protests here.

"We have been conducting investigations and they have been invited to shed light on some aspects, and it just so happened that they are Iraqis," he said.

Ebdane also said he has ordered the activation of 134 bomb incidents centers nationwide, which are manned by 600 bomb experts from the PNP.

"Likewise, all bomb incident centers in all levels of command have been activated to handle bomb threats and incidents," he said.

Chief Superintendent Vidal Querol, PNP operations chief, said the activation of bomb incident centers is part of the measures being undertaken to ensure the safety of the public as war erupts in the Middle East.

"We have 134 bomb incident centers across the land," he said. "Very recently we have activated the BICs and we have more than 600 (explosive ordnance division) specialists to respond to bomb incidents, collating evidence."

Police and immigration agents picked up for questioning four more Iraqis yesterday, one of them Saad T’laa, a suspect in the 1991 bombing of the Thomas Jefferson Library on Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati City.

T’laa was arrested in Zamboanga City the other day and is now detained at Camp Crame.

The arrest of the four Iraqis has brought to 15 the number of foreigners who are now in the custody of the immigration bureau and the police.

Police sources said T’laa is connected with Al Mukhabarat (Iraqi Intelligence Agency) and played a key role in the Jefferson Library bombing at the height of the first Gulf War.

T’laa was also identified with the sons of former Iraqi ambassador to Manila Hikmat Abdul Sattar, who was expelled from the country in 1993; Hussamudin Hikmat Abdul, who was linked to the Jefferson bombing; and former Iraqi embassy second secretary Husham Husein, who was expelled from the country last month.

At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque City, immigration agents are keeping a tight watch on Iraqis and other "Arab-looking" people who might try to enter the country.

Ferdinand Sempol, immigration supervisor at NAIA, said the Iraqis and "Arab-looking" people could be terrorists who might launch pro-Iraqi "sympathy attacks" in the country.

In Makati City, Mayor Jejomar Binay met with police officials and businessmen to discuss measures to be undertaken in case of an emergency.

Binay has ordered the Makati police and the city’s 200 employees to be ready to be deployed to secure vital installations and the various foreign embassies in Makati.

Chief Superintendent Jose Gutierrez Jr., Southern Police District Director, said police will be checking vehicles entering Makati as part of tightened security measures to protect the country’s business district from any terrorist attack.

Gutierrez said motorists should always bring with them a copy of their vehicle registration and official receipts from the Land Transportation Office to avoid any inconvenience.

"We want to keep the business district free from unwanted vehicles." he said. — With reports from Sandy Araneta, Jaime Laude, Marvin Sy