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Officials of Ninoy Aquino International Airport refused to divulge details of Hussain's flight.
Lawmakers, however, saw Ople's move as succumbing to US President George W. Bush's pressure to expel the Iraqi diplomat. Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos, Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo said Ople's decision to declare Hussain persona non grata reflects the clout Washington enjoys over Manila. They said Hussain's expulsion was an offshoot of Bush's telephone conversation with President Arroyo last Tuesday. But Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Lauro Baja Jr. said Bush did not compel President Arroyo to expel Hussain. It was the decision of the oversight committee and "it was reached even before President Bush called up President Arroyo," Baja said. |
He said Hussain, the second Iraqi diplomat to be removed from the Philippines in 12 years after former first secretary Muwafaq Jasim Al-Ani was kicked out for conspiring to bomb the Thomas Jefferson Cultural Center in Makati City in 1991, can no longer return as his country's emissary. He also downplayed Vice President and former foreign affairs chief Teofisto Guingona's call for a probe: "What is there to investigate? The report is already complete. (Doing so) would cast doubt on the capability and credibility of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency." Baja insisted that the crisis should be solved through proper diplomatic channels with the government of Saddam Hussein acting on the expelled diplomat. He did not expect relations between the two countries to sour. War imminent
Meanwhile, special envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu said the outbreak of war in the Gulf is imminent. With a US attack likely to happen in five to seven days, Cimatu said government is readying its evacuation plans for 1.4 million Filipinos in the Middle East. "We are now at a crossroads and we have to prepare for it," Cimatu told reporters in a news conference. He said preparations for Filipinos in the Gulf include the use of gas masks and defense drills. At the news conference, Cimatu presented video footage showing the deployment of American and British troops near the Iraqi border. Government officials are expected to monitor developments in Iraq and watch today the presentation of UN weapons inspector chief Hans Blix before the UN Security Council. Iraqi retaliation? In a related development, Marcos is worried that a retaliation might be forthcoming, not necessarily from Baghdad but from Saddam Hussein's unseen allies. "(Expulsion might create) serious diplomatic rift with Iraq, an old friend of the Philippines in the Arab world. It may be used to drag us into America's war not of our own making," Marcos said. With Lolit Rivera-Acosta, Rio Araja |