Philippines Arrests Two Suspected Islamist Militants in Manila
6 April 2017 19:10 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Manila - Philippine security forces arrested a Kuwaiti and a five-month pregnant Syrian for suspected links to Islamic State three months after they arrived, authorities said on Thursday, April 6, 2017.
Kuwaiti Husayn al-Dhafiri and Syrian Rajaf Zina had been living and working in Manila since January before they were arrested on March 25 in an upscale commercial district, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre told reporters.
The two, wearing orange prison uniforms, were paraded in front of journalists at the National Bureau of Investigation office where they were being held.
Authorities said al-Dafiri would be deported to Kuwait where he is suspected of bomb plots. Zina would be deported to Qatar, from where she last came. The two were not available for comment.
"We are only speculating why they are in the Philippines," Aguirre said after immigration authorities said the two had traveled to Davao in the south and Cebu in the central Philippines.
Aguirre said they had relied heavily on information from foreign allies to detect the presence of suspected Islamic State militants.
They first came to the Philippines last year on tourist visas but returned in January on working visas after a Kuwaiti manpower agency hired them, immigration authorities said.
REUTERS
