The Philippines' Iraq Connection

Why exactly was Husham Husain, a mid-level Iraqi diplomat in Manila, expelled from the Philippines last week? There is little doubt that Husain had been pushing the boundaries of proper diplomatic conduct by attending and even helping to organize rallies against the U.S., and meeting with a wide variety of individuals openly hostile to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration. But was he really involved in the wave of terrorist bombings on the southern island of Mindanao that the government blames on Abu Sayyaf, the Islamic guerrilla group that, in its early days, had links to al-Qaeda? Or, as skeptics suggest, is the Philippine intelligence community performing a shadow dance of Colin Powell's efforts in the U.N. to convince the world that Iraq and al-Qaeda are working together?

The questions arise because the evidence presented by Philippine intelligence sources is circumstantial at best. Last Oct. 9, police found an "improvised explosive device" in Zamboanga City. Attached was a mobile phone that appeared to be rigged to trigger the unexploded bomb. Investigators discovered that the phone had registered an incoming call from another mobile (which they believe was an attempt to detonate the explosive). Philippine intelligence sources say that several calls had been made from that second phone to senior Abu Sayyaf figures. There was also a single call to Husain made on Oct. 3 at 11:34 a.m.—one day after a bombing in Zamboanga City attributed to Abu Sayyaf had killed three people, including a U.S. soldier.

That shows, according to one summary by Philippine intelligence, that Iraqi operatives are covertly planning terrorist attacks in the Philippines and elsewhere, "using enfranchised radical groups in various places around the world." But allegations of Iraqi-Abu Sayyaf collusion remain ill-documented. "Perhaps the supposed links will become clearer later," says Dr. Asiri Abubakar, Professor of Asian Studies at the University of the Philippines, "but as of now they're at best tenuous." Iraq, not surprisingly, charged the Philippines with doing the Americans' bidding. Some regional intelligence sources agree. "I think the Philippines did it to curry favor with Washington," says one senior intelligence official bluntly, echoing opinions that emerged soon after Foreign Secretary Blas Ople went public with the accusations. U.S. President George W. Bush did promise to increase military aid to Manila in a phone conversation with his Philippine counterpart one day prior to the expulsion announcement. Manila, says Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a frequent critic of his country's relationship with the U.S., "is swallowing the Washington line hook, line and sinker."

There has been Iraqi terrorism in the Philippines in the past, albeit not by diplomats. During the last Gulf War, two Iraqis tried to blow up the Thomas Jefferson Cultural Center—a U.S. government facility—in Manila. One was killed in the bungled attempt, but the survivor eluded capture and returned to Baghdad, where he received a hero's welcome.