PNP: No crackdown on Muslims

As the Philippine National Police (PNP) launched a manhunt for the local contacts of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, the commander of a police strike force assured Filipino Muslims yesterday that they will not be the target of any crackdown.

Deputy Director Hermogenes Ebdane, chief of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF), said police are careful in picking up "Muslim-looking" individuals who may be suspected to be terrorists.

"We have to be very careful in making arrests," he said. "We will not sacrifice human rights by making unwarranted arrests."

Ebdane said police and military intelligence agents are monitoring "certain personalities" who may have links with the terrorist groups that attacked New York City and the Pentagon last Sept. 11.

Chief Superintendent Robert Delfin, PNP intelligence chief, said yesterday his men are gathering information on Bin Laden’s associates, who may have sneaked into the country.

Delfin said terrorist Abdul Hakim Murad, whom Manila policemen arrested in 1995, had told him details about "Operation Bojinka," whose objective was the bombing of American airliners coming from Asia, particularly the Philippines, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

"The bombing of a Philippine Airlines flight from Manila to Tokyo on Dec. 11, 1994 wherein a Japanese passenger was killed, was believed to be a test run for Bojinka," he said.

Delfin said the PNP Intelligence Group, as early as 1995, already knew that terrorists linked with Bin Laden had been taking flying lessons in the United States, the Philippines, and other countries in preparation for last week’s attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

"The group hated the United States because of strong support of the US to Israel," he said. "The war materiel such as ammunition that the US provided to Israel are the one that kill their Muslim brothers."

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Philippine Consulate in New York has reported that seven Filipinos and their families in that city are safe in answer to queries from their relatives.

The seven are: Pepito Lacap and his wife; Teresita Cuevas and her family; Liza Kadish; Milagros Gallilo and her family; Dr. Eduardo Cacas; Remy Ocuendo and her family; and Jorge Lucero and his family.

However, the DFA’s task force on terror attacks said there was still no news on the fate of other Filipinos who were probable victims of terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Two Filipino-American passengers of the airline that crashed into the Pentagon were earlier confirmed to be dead by the Philippine Consulate in New York.

In a statement yesterday, the United Muslim Democrats of the Philippines (UMDP) appealed to the United Nations to stop the US from launching any retaliatory strike against possible suspects in last week’s terrorist attacks.

"And as the United States and their allies are gearing at exacting maximum punishment upon the terrorists who are responsible for the attack... we appeal to the United Nations to do the best it could to avoid the escalation of retaliatory and punitive moves of America," read the statement.

The statement said the UMDP strongly condemns the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon and that it extends condolences to the relatives of the victims.

"The attack is extremely condemnable as it is an act against the whole humanity," read the statement. "We would like to convey to them that we are still sad with this tragic and horrible incident."

The UMDP also called on Muslim leaders to "unite and prevail upon the Abu Sayyaf" to return to the fold of the law and adhere to the teachings of Islam.

"Let us talk and appeal to them to accept a solution within the bounds of the law, after all, we are all Filipinos," a UMDP spokesman said.

During a recent forum, UMDP leaders also appealed to the world not to invoke religion or race in the fight or in defense of a political issue.

"Religious differences or the color of men, or the religious beliefs of the terrorist for that matter are not and should never be an issue in this unfortunate incident, the attack on America," the UMDP leaders said. – With Aurea Calica