March 21, 2003, INQ7 / Agence France-Presse, Authorities claim discoveryof Iraqi terror cells in RP,

IRAQI "sleeper cells" in the Philippines were discovered as a result of intense surveillance that led to the arrest of 11 Iraqis suspected of links to terror groups, immigration officials said. 

The arrest came after intelligence reports confirmed that "terrorist groups sympathetic to the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein were planning attacks against several American targets in the country in retaliation for the US-led war against Iraq," Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo said. 

Immigration anti-terrorism officer Winnie Quidato said the Iraqis were arrested after intense surveillance, leading to the discovery of an alleged network of Iraqi "sleeper cells" in the country. 

The United States had warned the Philippines that Iraqi militants in this country could launch attacks on US interests when Washington moved to oust Saddam. 

"A typical sleeper cell usually involves people living an ordinary life and remaining on the sidelines but with a mission to do something based on a given timetable," Quidato told Agence France-Presse. 

"We already have pieces of evidence against them but we are still digging deeper into this," he said. 

It could not be immediately ascertained when the Iraqis would be deported as air links to Baghdad has been virtually cut off with the ongoing war. 

Domingo said the Philippines would intensify its drive against terrorism, adding that the arrests were part of the government's participation in the global war against terror. 

Among those arrested was Saad Khahamatar T'laa, a suspect in the 1991 attempted bombing of a US cultural center building in Manila's financial district Makati, Domingo said. 

T'laa was picked up last Wednesday in the troubled southern region's Davao city, where an explosion at its airport's waiting lounge left 22 people dead and more than 150 others injured. 

Domingo said the authorities were "investigating reports that the 11 Iraqis were part of a terror network" allegedly led by an expelled Iraqi diplomat Husham Hussain linked to Muslim extremist groups in the southern Philippines. 

The Philippine government accused Hussein of having alleged contacts with the Muslim Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group when he was expelled last month. 

The Abu Sayyaf has been linked by Washington and Manila to the al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin laden. 

The Philippines is a key ally of the United States and is part of the Washington-led "Coalition for the Immediate Disarmament of Iraq." 

The United States had warned the Philippines that Iraqi militants in this country could launch attacks on US interests when Washington moved to oust Saddam. 

Meanwhile, the arrested Iraqis told GMA Network's "Frontpage" newscast they were ordinary, law-abiding citizens who had long "abandoned Saddam Hussein." 

"We are living here. We love this country. We are not doing anything against the country," said Samer Monsour, a spokesperson of the arrested Iraqis. 

According to their relatives interviewed by GMA-7 television, the arrested Iraqi nationals have lived in the country for years and have not committed any crime. 

The relatives added they will file on Monday before the Supreme Court a petition invoking the writ of habeas corpus for the detained Iraqis' freedom.