Iranian national barred by immigration

An Iranian national was barred from entering the country yesterday on suspicion that he was a member of an international terrorist group.

Officials said Wisjal Jietenore Walia, 20, tried to pass himself off as a Dutch national, but his name in the Dutch Airlines manifest did not appear, prompting the airline staff to declare that the plane ticket he used belongs to another person.

Bureau of Immigration intelligence agents Rudy David and Pedro Doce had earlier profiled Walia as a Middle East national when the latter tried to be admitted as a Dutch national. Further questioning proved that Walia was indeed an Iranian as he could not name the airport in Amsterdam where he took the KLM flight to Manila. He also could not name the currency used in Netherlands.

His Dutch passport which he presented to immigration officers upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport was found tampered. The Iranian later admitted that he was not a Dutchman, and that he only wanted to come to Manila as a tourist.

The foreign airline is now conducting an investigation on how the plane ticket, the Iranian used to board its flight from Amsterdam via Malaysia, got into the hands of Walia.– Rey Arquiza