Are we talking about the New World Hotel, for example? I might have unwittingly bumped shoulders with this guy...was doing a bit of biz there at the time, and stayed in Makati every time! The New World is a very nice (or at least it was back then) place. And indeed had a decent lobby bar and nightclub! Across the street from a mall with more clubs. Several good restaurants in the area. Yep, it all makes sense and I can definitely imagine someone of his ilk hanging out around there; indeed, at the time, a number of seemingly wealthy mideast "businessmen" in and around the area. Yech... I get a disgusting feeling even thinking about the possibility!
More seriously, it is a bit creepy, isn't it? Also, people who were in the Middle East in the 1980s, and stayed in the places that were on the Afghan/CIA/Saudi loop, now rack their brains, wondering if they can clearly remember the tall thin young man called Osama.
I tell you what, it is a small world. Someone, manyones, out there know somebody and something and is not going forward. This wild goose chase shows how low our humint has become.