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Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Palace keeps embassy in Iraq until further notice
By She Caguimbal-Torres
MANILA -- Malacaņang clarified Monday the temporary closure of the Philippine embassy in Iraq this week, which they stressed would only be for a few days marking an Islamic holiday.
The clarification was made following the announcement of National Security
Adviser Golez earlier that the President already directed the embassy officials in Baghdad to start evacuations.
President Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the closure from February 11 to 14 would be in celebration of the Haj, a Muslim holiday which marks the
start of the Muslim's pilgrimage to Mecca.
He said it is only the office that would be closed down but the operation
would resume after the holidays.
He added that President Arroyo had never ordered the embassy to shut down
its operation despite brewing hostilities between the United States and
Iraq.
"The truth is that there is no such order from the President. So Ambassador
(Grace) Escalante and the essential staff of the embassy in Baghdad will
remain in their respective posts until further notice," he said.
He said Escalante was given until February 11 to clear out of the embassy,
but it would still be up to the embassy officials to decide if they would
prefer to lengthen their stay.
Escalante will meanwhile leave shortly for Amman in Jordan "for regional consultations" on contingency plans for some 1.5 million Filipinos working in the Middle East that could be placed in harm's way in case of a US war on Iraq, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said.
There are about 119 Filipinos in Baghdad, half of whom are employed by the United Nations, while a few are married to Iraqi citizens. Arroyo earlier authorized the evacuation of non-essential personnel at the Baghdad mission.
Golez was reportedly reprimanded by Arroyo Monday for announcing the
"closure" of the embassy but Bunye was quick to deny that such event
happened, though he admitted the security adviser had explained on several
occasions that he was just misquoted.
Bunye added that Golez was just misunderstood and Malacaņang takes his word for it.
Golez, in a statement, said "the President authorized last week the
evacuation or relocation of non-essential embassy personnel. I said there
were eight non-essential personnel; that four personnel, including head of
mission Escalante, remained in Baghdad. When asked when the four would move out, I said the schedule was 11 February, but it was up to them to decide that."
He said the evacuation is part of the contingency for possible hostilities
since Baghdad, where the Philippine embassy is located-could be targeted.
He also explained in a radio interview that he never specifically said the embassy would be "closed down" but the evacuation of all the personnel at the embassy would mean the embassy would be left vacant and office work suspended.
He also clarified that the evacuation of the embassy personnel does not mean
the US would attack Iraq soon but they just want to be prepared and not be
caught flat-footed.
Golez in his appearance in the Senate earlier in the day apologized for his blunder involving reports on the supposed order of President Arroyo to close the embassy in Baghdad, which were attributed to him.
Senators, not letting his huge slipup pass by this time, agreed that Golez'
declaration is "censurable" since it could exacerbate the tension in the
Middle East.
Golez, was at the Senate to brief the Senators on the proposed peace
draft with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), when reporters sought his reaction after the Palace rebuked him for coming out with inaccurate information regarding the reported closure of the country's embassy in Iraq.
He apologized for coming out with the wrong information. But later on, he
retracted this statement, saying there was no need to apologize and
explained that the media only misquoted him.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel cautioned against making such statements that
could aggravate the already tense situation between Iraq and the US.
"That's censurable," Pimentel said.
Senator Manny Villar agreed. "We should not pick a fight with Iraq."
"I cannot understand why we are picking on Iraq when it is not trying to
pick a fight with us. To my mind, we should not make such inaccurate
reporting. Anyway, it was denied," Villar told reporters.
Villar suspected that information flow inside Malacanang could be in a
confused circle, the reason why such inaccurate statement happened.
Senator Rodolfo Biazon said he was not surprised with Golez. "This is not
the first time he did that," he said, refusing to comment further.
Golez and Bunye reiterated that contingency plans are all in place and the
National Security Council would be convened after United Nations Inspection
Team head Hans Blix makes his report before the UN Security Council on
February 14.
Abu link
As this developed, Ople on Monday linked a senior Iraqi diplomat in Manila to a deadly bomb attack by Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels that killed an American serviceman and injured 24 others in Malagutay, Zamboanga last year.
Ople said he had received a "very detailed" report from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) that Iraq embassy second secretary Husham Hussein had been in contact with Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
"It appeared that immediately after the bombing, there was a call to the embassy" by a man identified by the NICA as an Abu Sayyaf guerrilla. "The call was to Hussein."
"So I have put the Iraqi embassy on notice that these activities are monitored by the intelligence community."
Ople said he had summoned Iraqi charge d'affaires Samir Bolus, who agreed to instruct his second secretary to "cease and desist from actions inconsistent with his diplomatic status and actions that are harmful to the Philippine-Iraq in southern Zamboanga city. He said there would be no further investigation into the incident, even as the intelligence community would be constantly watching the Iraqi diplomats.
Bolus and the Iraqi embassy could not be immediately reached for comment.
Last week, Ople warned Bolus for joining anti-US street protests in Manila, saying the Iraqi envoy had abused his diplomatic privilege.
Philippine authorities have warned of possible "sympathy attacks" by Islamic militants against vital installations and US interests in the country amid US war threats on Iraq.
The October attack was among a series of bomb explosions blamed on the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in the southern Philippines late last year. The Abu Sayyaf are a small group of Islamic guerrillas who are wanted for kidnapping and murdering Filipinos and Americans in the past two years.
A number of alleged Abu Sayyaf rebels belonging to a unit tasked to carry out terrorist activities in urban areas have been arrested in connection with the bombing.
Western intelligence agencies have linked the group to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network tagged behind the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US. (With Joshua Dancel) |
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