MANILA, 25 June 2003 — The Saudi Arabian Embassy in Manila admits it has been unable to help in the case of a retired Saudia pilot who says he is falsely accused of being a terrorist by Philippine immigration officials.

“We are just a diplomatic mission and cannot interfere in the operations of the host country,” a spokesman of the embassy told Arab News.

The embassy said that the case of Saudi national Mohammed Bukhari, a former airline captain, was known to them.

“The embassy certifies that Capt. Bukhari is known to have good moral character and is also an honorable man,” the embassy spokesman said.

Sources at the embassy said Bukhari had visited the embassy daily since discovering that he was on the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) blacklist/watchlist last Jan. 8, 2003. The list was dated March 24, 2002, but Bukhari had not been told of his inclusion in the list.

Meanwhile, Bukhari said that two high-ranking officials at the BI head office in Intramuros read to him an anonymous letter sent to the US Embassy in Manila calling him a terrorist.

But they refused to provide him with a copy of the alleged letter.

Bukhari said the letter bore out a threatening phone call he received days earlier from Noiem Ahmad, the business partner of an erstwhile supplier who had absconded with the down payment Bukhari made for a delivery of door panels.

“He threatened that he would report to the US Embassy that I am a member of Al-Qaeda and/or a terrorist or supporter of the organization,” Bukhari said.

He claimed he was blackmailed into dropping a case for damages he had filed before a Marikina court against Ahmad and his partners, Jose Allan Cruz and Von Madarang.

Bukhari’s name was included in the BI blacklist/watchlist as a “supporter/backer of Islamic extremists” on May 24, 2002, but he did not discover this until he was stopped at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Jan. 8 the following year.

Since then, he says he has been prohibited from leaving Manila, and despite his repeated demands, BI officials have failed to explain why he was being tagged a “terrorist or terrorist supporter.”

A check with BI officials at the airport showed that Bukhari was still on the hold order list but the reason was “confidential.”

Bukhari had earlier said he wanted to clear his name and reputation and was willing to fight it out in court. He claimed he was being “persecuted, not prosecuted.”