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Manila expels Iraqi envoy

MANILA: The Philippines expelled a senior Iraqi diplomat yesterday accused of consorting with terrorists and
gave him 48 hours to leave Manila.

Foreign Secretary Blas Ople summoned Iraqi charge d'affaires Samir Bolus to his office to inform him that his
office had withdrawn “the accreditation of the Second Secretary Husham Hussein.”

“And I requested that Mr Hussein leave the country within 48 hours,” Ople said.

“Minister Bolus accepted this request and expressed the hope that despite of this incident, Philippines-Iraq
relationship will go on.”

Ople also asked the Iraqi embassy to “see to the departure of Hussein within 48 hours.”

Hussein “has ceased to enjoy the rights and privileges of a diplomat of the embassy of Iraq,” Ople told Bolus.

Bolus, meanwhile, committed to “refrain from any acts that might exacerbate the situation,” Ople said.

Hussein has been accused of having been in contact with an alleged Abu Sayyaf rebel shortly after a deadly
October bombing in southern Zamboanga city that left three people dead, including a US soldier.

Iraqi embassy officials could not be reached for comment.

The mission on Tuesday denied any of its staff were linked to terrorist organisations and challenged Manila to
prove its accusation. – AFP