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| Southeast Asia |
| 7 JI members may try and attack SEAG |
| 2005-12-07 |
| The Singaporean government reportedly warned the Philippines of the presence of seven members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network out to sow terror during the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Manila, which formally came to a close last night. Metro Manila police chief Director Vidal Querol clarified that the report was unverified but said he raised the number of policemen guarding yesterday’s closing ceremony from 2,000 to 3,000 as a preemptive measure. "We have not verified the report but, just the same, I raised the number of police personnel securing the closing ceremony of the games as a precautionary measure," he said. "We need to be extra vigilant on the last day of the games." The report claimed that the Singaporean delegates and athletes were not aware of the tip by the Singaporean government, nor were they advised to pull out of the competition. "The athletes continue to participate unless instructed by their government to leave for security reasons," the report said. However, the Singaporean government had expressed satisfaction with the strict, elaborate security measures being implemented in Cebu and Metro Manila. "I don’t know where the report came from," Querol said in Filipino. "But we should not let our guard down because they (terrorists) might put one over on us at the closing ceremony." Querol did not raise the alert level of the Metro Manila police, who remained at heightened alert yesterday, over the fresh report. He earlier announced that at least 2,000 policemen would be assigned to secure the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park during yesterday’s closing ceremony, but the PNP deployed an additional 1,000 at the last minute.Querol pointed out that at least 5,000 policemen were deployed to secure the SEA Games opening ceremony last Nov. 27. Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., intelligence chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, insisted that the report could be a product of an attempt to spread disinformation. "We have not monitored such a report. We checked and cross-checked with other intelligence units, but no such report was monitored," Rojas told The STAR. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 I'm not a MOD. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-12-07 16:01 |
| #1 Friggin Flips! They will still be in denial after the bombs blow up the Pres Palace. BTW the US Embassy has been closed due to bomb threats for the last two day. This embassy holds a traditional hard line of staying open no matter what the threat is. For them to close is must have been credible. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2005-12-07 15:18 |