|
Australia, Canada, E.U. Close Embassies in Manila After Terror Threats
 |
| A sign outside the Canadian embassy in the Philippines |
MANILA,
November 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Australia, Canada and
the European Union closed their embassies in the Philippines Thursday,
November 28, in response to specific terrorist threats by so-called
“Islamic extremists”, officials said.
Armed
police secured the Australian embassy and the European Commission
office, both occupants of an office tower in the Makati financial
district, as well as the Canadian embassy three blocks away.
Police
SWAT teams armed with assault rifles also patrolled the streets of
Makati, with some seen around the building housing the British
embassy, which remained open, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
No
other foreign embassies were known to have closed - the U.S. mission
is closed for the Thanksgiving holiday but spokesmen said it would
reopen on Friday, November 29.
Western
diplomatic missions across Southeast Asia have sporadically shut their
doors since a wave of threats linked to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda
network and its regional allies around the September 11 anniversary.
Fears
of new attacks have intensified since the October 12 Bali terrorist
bombing, and a spate of bomb blasts in the southern Philippines and
Manila last month which left 23 people dead.
Filipino
police said Thursday they saw five foreign-looking men taking
photographs and video footage of the Australian embassy last Friday
who ran away when accosted. Embassy officials were unavailable for
comment.
Philippines
police chief Hermogenes Ebdane said the authorities were taking “all
necessary measures to ensure public security, with particular emphasis
on those who might need it more,” the foreign ministry said in a
statement.
Defense
Secretary Angelo Reyes told reporters: “We have directed the
intelligence agencies of the defense department to coordinate closely
with the Australian embassy officials to see to it that adequate
measures are undertaken to prevent such threat from materializing.”
In
Australia, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the threat concerned
the Australian embassy and missions of two other countries which he
declined to name.
The
Australian foreign ministry said it had “received credible and
specific information of a threat to the Australian embassy in
Manila.”
Downer
said later on television that the threat came from “Islamic
extremists, fundamentalist people.”
He
said his ministry also renewed a standing advisory for Australians to
avoid non-essential travel anywhere in the Philippines.
Australian
consular personnel would work from a Manila hotel during the
embassy’s indefinite closure.
A
foreign diplomat who asked not to be named told AFP: “The European
delegation office (was closed) because apparently it was on the same
building as the Australian embassy, and no European embassy was closed
today.”
Canadian
embassy counsellor Heather Forton told AFP: “We have a specific and
credible threat that has led us to decide to close the embassy
temporarily.”
The
Canadian government website said in an advisory issued Wednesday that
“Canadians should not travel to the Philippines until further
notice.”
Southeast
Asia has a growing and unwanted reputation as a frontline in the war
against terror. Western intelligence agencies say the Jemaah Islamiyah
network (JI), which has been linked to Al-Qaeda, maintained terror
cells in the Philippines, home to decades-old Islamic separatist
rebellions in the south.
JI
has been blamed for the Bali bombings which killed more than 190
people, around half of them Australians.
The
latest threat comes a day after Malaysia said it had arrested four
members of a JI suicide bombing squad who planned to attack the U.S.
embassy in Singapore.
Earlier
this month the Philippine government said its arrest of a Filipino
Muslim militant had foiled planned attacks on government
installations, foreign embassies and shopping malls in Manila.
President
Gloria Arroyo’s government has been a key supporter of the U.S.-led
campaign against Al-Qaeda and its allies.
Two
Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah militants were sent to jail earlier this
year on explosives charges.
The
government this week outlawed imports of the agricultural chemical
ammonium nitrate, which it suspects is being stockpiled by terrorists
for bomb-making. The same chemical was believed used in the deadly
Bali attacks.
|
