MANILA, 26 August 2003 — Saudi national Mohammed Saeed A.J. Bukhari, who was prevented from leaving the Philippines on suspicion of being a “supporter/backer of Islamic extremists,” has finally been taken off the Philippine Bureau of Immigration’s watch list/blacklist.
“I was never a terrorist,” Bukhari told Arab News. However, his name remained in the BI’s central computer long after the watch list/blacklist order was supposedly lifted on July 18.
He said he planned to return to Saudi Arabia “soon” and was now wrapping up some loose ends related to a former business venture.
Documents provided by Bukhari show that he was removed from the watch list on July 1, the same day that his case was publicized in the Philippine press. At the time, Bukhari thought all his problems were over.
However, a subsequent check with the BI’s main computer and with the international airport detail revealed that the retired Saudia pilot remained on the bureau’s blacklist.
Bokhari’s name was finally removed from the blacklist on July 18 by immigration chief Andrea Domingo, who said it was done at the request of Ambassador Amable Aguiluz, special envoy of the president.
Aguiluz said he wanted to “improve relations with Saudi Arabia” because he was scheduled on July 19 to pay a courtesy call on Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, Domingo said.
But a check at the BI Central Computer in Intramuros on July 24 showed Bukhari had only been removed from the blacklist at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Bukhari said his name was finally removed from the central computer on Aug. 19 after he repeatedly pressed his case and showed BI computer technicians his documents.
“The BI has passed judgment on me and still has not yet cleared me,” Bukhari told Arab News.
He discovered that for most of August he remained on the blacklist in the central computer when he tried to obtain a certification that he was no longer under suspicion, for which he shelled out 1,000 pesos.
“I will not disgrace my family and die a terrorist,” Bukhari said adding he would fight to clear his name before leaving the Philippines.
When his name was first removed from the watch list and he was allowed to leave the country, the 66-year-old Bukhari said: “They are throwing me out with a terrorist tag. They are telling me to leave the country in disgrace.”
He was apprehensive that he would also be blacklisted in the US and other countries. This would be unfortunate, he said, since “I am a traveler. I love traveling from country to country. I have grown used to it.”
