MANILA, 19 March 2005 — A Saudi whose name was on the Interpol blacklist was arrested by Philippine police upon arrival from Saudi Arabia, officials said yesterday.
Filipino immigration chief Alipio Fernandez said authorities are interrogating Abdullah Nasir Alarifi who was arrested on Wednesday afternoon shortly after his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila from Riyadh. “His name is included in the Interpol blacklist and that’s why he is being interrogated,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez said the 34-year-old Saudi denied being a terrorist and claimed that he was on holiday in the Philippines. But the Filipino official said all the personal details on Alarifi’s passport are the same as that of the blacklist provided by the Interpol.
“All the details about him are the same, although he claims that he is not the same person on the Interpol blacklist. He sometimes answers questions by our interrogators, and sometimes he refuses to talk,” Fernandez told Arab News.
He said the Saudi Embassy has taken custody of the foreigner, while the Philippine authorities are awaiting more information from the Interpol about Alarifi’s background. “The Saudi Embassy is helping us in verifying Alarifi’s background,” he said.
Alarifi said it was his first visit to the Philippines. The Interpol list contains the names and other information of people suspected to be members of terrorist organizations.
Saudi Ambassador Mohammad Wali told Arab News there was no incriminating evidence against the Saudi. “We are in constant touch with the Philippine authorities,” he added.
Another Saudi, Mohammad Abdullah Sughayer, was also arrested earlier this year in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines on suspicion of having links with the Al-Qaeda terror network.
Sughayer was tagged as a financier for the militant group Abu Sayyaf, blamed by authorities for a spate of bombings and kidnappings in the strife-torn region.
Airport police and immigration agents, backed by Marines, arrested Sughayer at the Zamboanga City International Airport when he arrived from Manila on Jan. 17.
He was positively identified by a detained militant Muhammad Umug — linked to a series of bomb attacks in southern Philippines — as one of the financiers of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani.
Meanwhile, retired Saudi Arabian Airlines 747 Capt. M.S. Bukhari, who was himself not allowed to leave the Philippines for eight months last year because of terror charges, reacted strongly when told about Alarifi’s arrest.
“This is harassment, humiliation and extreme prejudice,” Bukhari, a known pacifist, told Arab News in Jeddah yesterday.
After a lengthy legal battle his name was cleared and he was removed from the Philippine immigration blacklist and watchlist.
“I fought for my honor, prestige and dignity. I told the Filipino security officials: ‘You don’t’ have to look for me. I will come to you.’”
— With input from Abdul Maqsood Mirza in Jeddah
