Philippines asks 11 govts to deny Estrada asylum<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): The Philippines has asked 11 countries and
\nterritories including the United States to deny political asylum
\nto deposed leader Joseph Estrada, officials said on Friday.<\/p>\n
The governments of Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,
\nPalau, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, as well as the Chinese
\nterritories of Hong Kong and Macau, had been contacted by the
\nforeign department, diplomatic sources said.<\/p>\n
The sources said embassy or consulate officials were summoned
\nto the foreign department office to alert them to the possibility
\nthat Estrada could seek sanctuary to avoid possible arrest for
\nalleged corruption.<\/p>\n
The envoys were asked to inform Manila \"if they have any
\ninformation on any request by Estrada's camp,\" and to refuse him
\nentry, one source said.<\/p>\n
Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said he met separately with
\nU.S. embassy charge d'affaires Michael Malinowski and other
\nofficials including a legal attache from the Federal Bureau of
\nInvestigation.<\/p>\n
He told reporters the Americans \"couldn't give us an
\nassurance\" that Estrada would be extradited if he fled to the
\nUnited States.<\/p>\n
\"The problem is there are countries which don't allow
\nextradition if the cases are punishable by death. When I asked
\nthem, they couldn't give a definite answer,\" Perez said.<\/p>\n
He wants to put Estrada on trial for massive corruption. Among
\nthe cases being readied are for plunder, which is punishable by
\ndeath.<\/p>\n
He said he asked the foreign department \"to get in touch with
\nour neighbors and ask them not to grant political asylum to the
\nformer president.\"<\/p>\n
Estrada was toppled in a military-backed popular revolt last
\nyear. The Supreme Court ruled last week that he was no longer the
\nPhilippine president, and thus could not claim immunity from
\narrest.<\/p>\n
Press reports said Estrada had since asked Bandar Seri
\nBegawan, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Washington for
\npolitical asylum, although his family and the governments
\ninvolved all denied that an approach had been made.<\/p>\n
Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand as well as the
\nUnited States have extradition treaties with Manila.<\/p>\n
President Gloria Arroyo plans to file charges against Estrada
\nfor extortion, embezzlement, receiving bribes from illegal
\ngambling lords and shielding friends from government regulators.
\n\"The number of charges may reach 13,\" Perez said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Estrada said on Friday that he had been talking
\nwith army soldiers who were dissatisfied with Arroyo.<\/p>\n
\"I know about that because we have been talking to a lot of
\nlower-ranking members of the armed forces who did not know about
\nthe withdrawal of support from me,\" Estrada said on radio station
\nDZEC when asked about military unrest.<\/p>\n
Several Manila newspapers on Friday released an open letter by
\na shadowy military group calling itself the Young Officers Union
\n(YOU).<\/p>\n
The letter warned Arroyo that they would move against her
\nunless she took action on so-called leftists in sensitive
\ngovernment positions and over alleged graft cases against her
\nallies.<\/p>\n
Arroyo aides dismissed the reported threat.<\/p>\n
\"That is just foolishness,\" Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita
\nsaid, adding that \"I don't really believe there is a YOU.\"<\/p>\n
Ermita recalled that a group with that name had been involved
\nin some of the coup plots against then-president Corazon Aquino
\nin the late-1980s. But he said the group in 1995 signed an accord
\nto abandon its destabilization efforts.<\/p>",
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