Manila says no specific threat at APEC meeting

Manila says no specific threat at APEC meeting

MANILA (AFP): There have been no threats against U.S. President Bill Clinton and 15 other world leaders meeting in the Philippines on Nov. 25 for an economic summit, a top official said yesterday.

But retired Gen. Lisandro Abadia, head of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum organizing committee, told AFP in an interview: "We assume for the worst. We are prepared for terrorists even if there is no specific threat."

"Without quibbling, without hiding anything, I can tell you that there is no validated threat," the former armed forces chief of staff added.

He said reports that certain groups would try to sabotage the meetings, to be held in Manila and the northern freeport of Subic Bay from Nov. 19 to 25 to discuss liberalizing trade in the Pacific rim, "are all speculation for now."

However, he said that some 10,000 to 15,000 security forces, trained to protect the leaders and guard the venue of the meetings, remained "prepared for any threat that may arise".

Abadia said experts from France, Israel and the United States, among others, had helped train the troops, including elite anti- terrorist teams.

Asked if there was any specific threat to justify strict security measures being adopted, Abadia said: "None so far, but let me stress that whether we have intelligence holdings or not we will assume that there is."

Abadia, asked by President Fidel Ramos to supervise Manila's hosting of the APEC meetings, said that in security, "there is no such thing as 99.9 percent" readiness, adding it should be 100 percent.

Leftwing groups and legislators have criticized the security measures, which include a ban on demonstrations and the setting up of police and military checkpoints, as reminiscent of martial law under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Clinton, Indonesian President Soeharto, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the leaders of 11 other Pacific Rim nations and the representatives of Taiwan and Hong Kong are to attend the summit.

Most of them will arrive on Nov. 24 and will stay overnight in Manila hotels which have been reserved for them.

On the morning of Nov. 25, Clinton and six other leaders will be flown to Subic in their own aircraft for the one-day summit, Abadia said.

But in a rare protocol arrangement, 10 leaders will be ferried to Subic -- five each -- in two Airbus planes chartered from Philippine Airlines, he added.

Abadia said the APEC leaders have not made any special requests for security. Except for their "close in" escorts, their security will be the responsibility of the Philippine government, he added.

The Presidential Security Group, which guards Ramos and his family, will be tasked to guard the visiting leaders. The group also guarded Pope John Paul II during his visit here in January 1995 during which an alleged plot by Moro rebels to kill the pontiff was uncovered.

"The security of every leader is our responsibility. Whatever security we give to one we give to all, they are all very important to us," he said.