U.S. presses expulsion of all Iraqi diplomats

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By ESTRELLA TORRES and MIA GONZALEZ TODAY Reporters

In an effort to fully destroy the regime of Saddam Hussein, Washington is pressing foreign governments to expel all Iraqi diplomats stationed in their countries and freeze their bank accounts.

In Manila, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said his department will study Washington’s request, noting that the Philippine government exercises sovereignty on the matter of expelling diplomats.

“We are not going to be stampeded into acquiescing to any request of a friendly foreign state. We have to study this in the light of our own interests,” Ople said in an interview with Malacañang reporters before the oath taking of newly appointed ambassadors at the Palace Ceremonial Hall.

In a separate interview with diplomatic reporters, Ople recalled that, “I expelled an Iraqi diplomat. Nobody requested it but in the interest of national security, it had to be done.”

He added, “It is the prerogative of a sovereign country to do so.”

President Arroyo said in an ambush interview that she was “leaving that [US request] for Secretary Ople to handle.”

Karen Kelley, first secretary and press attaché of the US Embassy in Manila, said the US State Department has requested foreign countries hosting Iraqi missions to expel the Iraqi diplomats.

“There is a worldwide request [from the US] where there are Iraqi missions. We have a formal request to have Iraqi diplomats suspended on a temporary basis and to take steps to assure their prompt departure [from those countries],” said Kelley in a telephone interview Friday.

Washington also plans to seize all the documents and records of the Iraqi officials located in the foreign governments.

“But the US State Department asks foreign governments to respect and protect property of the Iraqi diplomats and prevent destruction of records and documents of the Iraqi mission,” Kelley said.

The US government has also asked the foreign governments to freeze the bank accounts and assets of Iraqi diplomats being kept in the name of the Iraqi government.

Kelley said the request was made to foreign governments, including the Philippines, because of Saddam’s refusal to disarm and withdraw its weapons of mass destruction.

According to an earlier report from Washington, the US wants to expel some 600 Iraqi diplomats deployed in 30 countries, including the Philippines.

Relatedly, Ople said the DFA has not been directed to make a position on the possible US military use of Philippine airspace during war in Iraq, as there has been no request.

He indicated that the request, if it is ever made and granted, is not likely to draw opposition from Congress, as it had been done during the attack on Afghanistan.

He said the likelihood of such a request “is not great because all of their assets appeared to be already massed in the Persian Gulf in the vicinity of Iraq.”

Fearing retaliatory attacks, around 22 US embassies and consulates all over the world have shut down while 12 other posts have authorized their staff and their families to return home.

Kelley said the closure of the embassies and consulates were not based on the directive of the US State Department but decided upon by the respective ambassadors in every post.

“As a result of military action in Iraq, there is a potential for retaliatory actions to be taken against US citizens and interests throughout the world,” stated the US Worldwide Caution dated March 20, 2003.

According to a report on CNN website, the US embassies and consulates that closed down their operations are located in the cities of Almaly, Khazakstan; Amman, Jordan; all posts in Australia; Bucharest, Romania; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cairo, Egypt; Caracas, Venezuela; Damascus, Syria; Istanbul, Turkey; Kabul, Afghanistan; Lagos, Nigeria; Paris, France; Nairobi, Kenya; Oslo, Norway; all posts in Pakistan; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Savanna Yemen; Skopje, Macedonia; all posts in South Africa; Surabaya, Indonesia; Tel Aviv, Israel and Jerusalem.

In Manila, the embassies of Canada and United Kingdom renewed travel advisories for their traveling citizens.

“The travel advisory is necessary because of the history of many incidents that travelers should be aware of,” said Paul Dimond, British ambassador to Manila.

“Heightened tensions as a result of the Iraq situation, together with increased threats globally from terrorism, put Canadians at greater risk. Canadians should maintain a high level of personal security awareness at all time as the security situation could deteriorate rapidly without notice,” stated Canada’s travel advisory dated March 21.

As for the Filipino workers in Kuwait, an area nearest to Iraq, Ople said they are already out of harm’s way.

He said some have crossed the border to Saudi Arabia, where they were received by a special team created by the Philippine foreign affairs department in Riyadh.

“The Filipino workers are more concerned about the panic reactions of their relatives in the Philippines,” Ople said.

Ople said the President has decided to retain Ambassador Bayani Mangibin in Kuwait “by popular demand.”

The President earlier disclosed a plan to send Mangibin to Iraq after the conflict because of his expertise in after-war construction.

“We have an excellent foreign service and we have a very deep bench in the Department of Foreign Affairs. So, if we send an ambassador to Baghdad, you can be sure that he will be very first class. He doesn’t need to be Ambassador Mangibin,” he said.

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