Immigration deports ‘ISIS commander’

MANILA, Philippines — An Egyptian man, suspected of being a commander of the terror group Islamic State for Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has been deported, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said yesterday.

Fehmi Lassoued, 33, was taken to Bangkok on a Thai Airways flight en route to Cairo, where he was taken into government custody, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said in a statement.

Charges were filed against Lassoued and his Filipina girlfriend after they were arrested in Manila in February. A firearm, several improvised explosives, an ISIS flag and maps with drawings of the group’s probable operational plans were reportedly found in their possession, the BI said.

Government prosecutors dropped the case in March, citing insufficient evidence.

The BI Board of Commissioners issued a deportation order on Sept. 6 and included Lassoued’s name in the bureau’s blacklist.

Morente said Lassoued was found guilty of misrepresentation for submitting an altered Tunisian passport and for being an undesirable alien due to his alleged terrorist links. 

Lassoued was also reportedly using the aliases Haytham/Haytam Abdulhamid Yusof, Haitam Abdel Hamid Ahmed Youssef, and Youssef Haitham Abdelhamid.  Previous media reports also refer to him as John Rasheed Lassoned, the BI said.       

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