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Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Estrada denies conspiring in US spy plot (12:00 p.m.)
MANILA -- Ousted Philippine President Joseph Estrada on Wednesday denied allegations by US federal prosecutors that he conspired with a former FBI analyst to steal classified information that could be used to oust President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Federal prosecutors identified Estrada, opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson and former House of Representatives Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella as alleged participants in a spy plot involving former FBI analyst Leandro Aragoncillo.
According to documents filed this week in US District Court in Newark, New Jersey, Estrada and the two Philippine lawmakers might have sought information from Aragoncillo to try to overthrow Arroyo.
Estrada, ousted in a 2001 "people power" revolt on charges of corruption, acknowledged receiving information from Aragoncillo, but he said it was passed on to him voluntarily and amounted to nothing more than what was already reported by Manila newspapers.
He stressed he would never get involved in a plot to oust Arroyo, a former vice president who succeeded him in 2001.
"I don't have that intention, whatsoever," Estrada told The Associated Press by telephone. |
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