No Pinoy insurgent killed in Iraq

A Filipino militant, believed trained by the Indonesian terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), was reportedly captured by Iraqi forces at a rebel training camp in central Iraq.

A diplomatic source who asked not to be named said the Filipino, whose identity was withheld, admitted during interrogation that there are a number of Filipinos training alongside Iraqi and other foreign militants in Iraq.

Philippine authorities, the source said, are still debating whether the Filipino should be repatriated as he may pose a serious threat to the country’s security.

Army Gen. John Abizaid, commander of the US Central Command, admitted that an increase in the number of foreign insurgents training in Iraq had been noted in the past few months.

Abizaid said in an interview with CNN that though most of the insurgents are Iraqis, foreign insurgents training in Iraq are on the rise and they enter Iraq through Syria, a well-established route.

The US official stressed that terrorist groups led by Abu Musab al Zarqawi continue to pose great danger. Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for the most horrendous attacks in the country, is affiliated with al-Qaeda, which have links with the JI.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), however, denied reports that Filipinos have joined the ranks of Islamic insurgents in Iraq.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Gilberto Asuque said in a press briefing yesterday that General Zihad of the Iraqi Interior Ministry had informed Undersecretary for Special Concerns Rafael Seguis that there was no Filipino found at the lakeside training camp in central Iraq that was the target of a military operation by Iraqi and US forces last Tuesday.

"General Zihad said that a foreign insurgent with a Philippine-sounding name who was captured during the operation was mistakenly identified by the field commander as Filipino," the DFA said in a statement.

Asuque said the Iraqi soldiers did not find any passport or identification documents pertaining to a Filipino in the training camp.

The insurgents training in the rebel camp reportedly included Iraqis, Filipinos, Algerians, Moroccans, Afghans and Arabs from neighboring countries.

As this developed, Special Envoy to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Ambassador Amable Aguiluz arrived in the Middle East yesterday to help secure the release of Roberto Tarongoy who is held captive by Iraqi abductors.

Malacañang said Aguiluz will exert parallel efforts with the Philippine negotiating team in Baghdad headed by Seguis to secure Tarongoy’s freedom.

Through diplomatic means, Aguiluz said his team will enlist the help of influential ruling families in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.