RP angry over shutdown of embassies<\/p>\n
Mynardo Macaraig, Agence France-Presse, Manila<\/p>\n
The Philippines has criticized Australia and Canada for closing
\ntheir embassies without warning because of terrorist threats,
\nsaying neither government consulted the local authorities.<\/p>\n
Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said information about
\nthe threat from the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) militant group had not
\nbeen shared with local police before the missions were shut down
\non Thursday.<\/p>\n
Speaking after a meeting with the Australian and Canadian
\nambassadors, Ople told reporters late Thursday the terror alert
\n\"came from their home governments and presumably their own
\nintelligence.\"<\/p>\n
Ople told the ambassadors the shutdown gave \"a black eye to
\nthe Philippines\" particularly as the country had taken an active
\nrole in hunting down Islamic extremist terrorists in the region.<\/p>\n
\"The ambassadors expressed regret over this development,\" he
\nsaid. \"They said the threat came from Islamic fundamentalists,
\nspecifically Jamaah Islamiyah.\"<\/p>\n
Australian ambassador Ruth Pearce told a press briefing on
\nFriday hat her government had advised Ople of the decision before
\nthe closure was announced.<\/p>\n
\"Before the decision was made public, I advised the
\n(Philippine) government through the Department of Foreign
\nAffairs,\" said Pearce.<\/p>\n
She said that she would convey to Canberra the Philippine
\nconcerns that Australia was not sharing sufficient intelligence
\ninformation.<\/p>\n
Pearce would not comment on whether the JI was involved,
\nsaying only that it was a \"credible\" threat but that she had no
\ndetails.<\/p>\n
JI has been blamed for the Oct. 12 bombings on the Indonesian
\nisland of Bali which killed more than 190 people, and the group
\nhas been accused of having links to the al-Qaeda network.<\/p>\n
Scores of alleged JI militants have been also been rounded up
\nin Singapore and Malaysia accused of plotting terrorist attacks,
\nwhile the Philippines has also jailed several alleged JI bomb
\nmakers.<\/p>\n
Australian and Canadian officials said the threats were
\nspecific and that their nationals were being warned to avoid the
\nPhilippines.<\/p>\n
The European Union (EU) delegation office, which is located in
\nthe same office building as the Australian embassy, has also shut
\ndown as a security precaution, officials said.<\/p>\n
The Australian, Canadian and EU embassies remained closed on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
Ople said he was calling a meeting of the entire diplomatic
\ncorps on Monday to improve intelligence and security
\ncoordination.<\/p>\n
President Gloria Arroyo meanwhile said her government would
\nnot relent in its anti-terror campaign.<\/p>\n
\"We don't know when or where in the whole world terror will
\nstrike again, but we're doing everything to thwart its attempts
\nor mitigate its effects. We shall remain on alert,\" Arroyo
\nstressed.<\/p>\n
\"In our war against terror, we look out primarily for our own
\ninterests. This includes making common cause with common
\ncountries where those interests materially overlapped.\"<\/p>\n
The head of police forces in Manila, deputy-director general
\nReynaldo Velasco, said in an interview with ABS-CBN television
\nthat there had been no indication that the embassies faced any
\nthreat.<\/p>\n
The district police had gone to the embassies on Thursday for
\na meeting only to find them closed, he recalled. Velasco said
\npolice had tightened security at vital installations since the
\nSept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.<\/p>\n
Ople said the foreign missions had told him there would be a
\n\"constant, daily review\" of security but that no timetable for
\ntheir opening had been agreed.<\/p>\n
Fears of new attacks have intensified since the Bali bombing,
\nand a spate of bomb blasts in the southern Philippines and Manila
\nlast month which left 23 people dead.<\/p>\n
Southeast Asia has a growing reputation as a frontline in the
\nwar against terror, with much focus on JI.<\/p>\n
Western intelligence agencies say JI -- which wants to set up
\nan Islamic state across Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore
\nand the southern Philippines -- has set up cells across the
\nregion.<\/p>",
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