Retired Saudi pilot decries ‘bigotry,’ sues BI for terrorist tag

A retired Saudi airline pilot has sued the Bureau of Immigration before a Manila court for accusing him as a terrorist and preventing him from leaving the country.

Mohammed Bukhari, 66, said he has been prohibited from leaving the country for the past six months and the bureau would not explain why he was included in a government blacklist of suspected terrorists.

He learned he was on the list when he was stopped at Ninoy Aquino International Airport last Jan. 8.

"I am not a terrorist. I am a victim of prejudice in the Philippines. You can only accuse a person for what he has done and not for what he is. My problem is I am a Saudi, an Arab, a Muslim and a pilot. Therefore, I am a terrorist," he told The STAR in an interview.

Bukhari said he was a former commercial pilot for 30 years for Saudia, the Saudi airline. He is now trying to set up an import-export business in the Philippines.

Complaining that he was being "persecuted, not prosecuted" by Philippine officials, Bukhari said Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo had refused to see him and other bureau officials could not explain why his name was included in the blacklist.

Finally, he hired Filipino lawyer Renato Peralta and filed a suit against Domingo before the Manila regional trial court, demanding that his name be struck off the blacklist.

"I categorically deny that I am with any terrorist group, nor a supporter of them, being a legitimate businessman doing business here and abroad," he said in an affidavit submitted to the court.

STAR sources said Bukhari’s case recently caught the attention of several Saudi newspapers in Saudi Arabia and has been getting front-page treatment for the past several days now.

Riyadh has ordered the Saudi embassy in Manila to bring Bukhari’s case to the attention of Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople.

Bukhari said he had been traveling in and out of the Philippines since the 1980s as an airline pilot and later for his export business, buying mahogany and soft wood doors here for sale in Saudi Arabia. He started his business last year after retiring from Saudia.

Bukhari’s wife, Amna Bushnag, told Arab News, an English newspaper in Jeddah, that his family was worried about his health. "We haven’t seen him for six months," she said, adding that her husband has a heart condition.

Amna lives in Jeddah with three of her daughters. The youngest is getting married next month. "We wanted to postpone the wedding, but my husband insisted that the wedding should go ahead whether he is able to make it or not," she said. "He’s adamant that it should be as big a wedding as her older sisters’."

Amna insisted that her husband had no ties with terrorists. "My husband went to the Philippines on business all the time," she said. "He never had any problems and was never arrested anywhere. He worked for Saudia for almost 30 years and he is admired by everybody."

Bukhari said he was included in the blacklist by Domingo upon the recommendation of airport immigration chief Simeon Vallada.

Unlike the four other Arab-sounding names on the blacklist, there were no details about Bukhari. The others had their addresses, ages, physical descriptions, nationalities and even passport numbers listed.

Bukhari said immigration officials did not arrest or detain him when he was stopped at the airport last January. He was questioned for 30 minutes and told to report to the bureau’s main Manila office to "clear" his name.

"If they believe I am a criminal, why are they not prosecuting me or arresting me or even issuing a warrant of arrest?" Bukhari asked. "In the name of justice, they should charge me and prosecute me now, and if they can’t do that, they must set me free and clear my name."

Sources said Bukhari was informed by immigration officials that his name was included in the blacklist because of an anonymous letter accusing him of "being a supporter of Islamic extremists" that was sent to the US Embassy in Manila.

Bukhari suspects he was being blackmailed by a group of former business suppliers whom he had earlier sued before a Marikina court for alleged fraud after a deal went sour.

One of those he sued even called his house and warned that if he did not withdraw the case "he would report to the US Embassy that I am a member of al-Qaeda and a terrorist or supporter of the organization," Bukhari said.

He said he sued Domingo and Vallada after they repeatedly ignored his letters demanding an explanation for the hold-departure order on him.