A victim of war on terror:
Captain Mohamed Bukhari

WHEN retired captain Mohamed Saeed Bukhari was given a US visa in Jeddah on July 10, 2002, and when he subsequently visited the US in August and October 2002, little did he know that the Philippine Bureau of Immigration had put him on a blacklist and a watch list for allegedly supporting Islamic extremists.

What is ironic is that he was placed on a blacklist upon request of the US embassy in Manila, who claimed it had received an anonymous letter accusing Bukhari of talking about wanting to attack US interests in the Philippines. The US embassy asked the Philippine government to detain and investigate Bukhari the next time he attempted to enter the Philippines.

And travel to the Philippines, Bukhari was definitely bound to do. As a pilot for Saudi Arabian Airlines, Bukhari first started visiting the Philippines in 1980, flying Tristars and then Boeing 747s to Manila. Later, after retiring from Saudia in 1997 at age 60, Bukhari kept visiting the Philippines as a businessman, setting up a wooden door factory in Marikina City, and exporting his products to Saudi Arabia.

Bukhari now thinks that his problems with Philippine immigration officials stem from a business deal gone sour. In an interview with Arab News, Bukhari explained how he had arranged to buy some doors from another supplier. The deal was made with two Filipinos and an Indian national, with Bukhari paying them a 20 percent advance for his order. The doors were never delivered and his deposit never returned. Unable to recoup his money, Bukhari was forced to sue the three for breach of contract and fraud.

Being Arab, Saudi, Muslim and a commercial pilot was enough in Bukhari's mind for anyone bent on harassing him to accuse him of being a terrorist and supporter of Islamic extremism. Bukhari believes that it was one of the three partners who never delivered his doors that sent the written allegations against him to the US embassy in Manila.

But Bukhari didn't know any of this would happen until he arrived in Manila on January 8, 2003, and was informed by an immigration officer at Ninoy Aquino International Airport that his name was on their blacklist and watch list. Instead of putting him back on a plane to Jeddah, immigration officers surprisingly let him into the country, telling him to visit the Bureau of Immigration headquarters in Manila's Intramuros area.

After several visits to the Bureau of Immigration, Bukhari found out that he was being accused of supporting Islamic extremists. Who his accuser was and what evidence the Philippine government had against him, if any, he didn't know. So on January 14 he wrote a letter to Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo requesting that his name be lifted from the blacklist and watchlist. Another letter, this time from his attorney, Renato V. Peralta, was also sent to Domingo requesting the same on January 16.

More than a month went by, and Bukhari's name was still on both lists. He visited the BI headquarters so often in Intramuros, that many of the staff now recognized him and would say, "Oh, here comes the Arabiano!"

A visit to the Saudi embassy in Manila proved initially fruitless, with Saudi diplomats there recommending that it would be better if Bukhari himself fought alone to get his name cleared without any help from the embassy. He accepted their advice, asking only that the embassy's lawyer give him moral support by appearing in court with him in the future if necessary.

On February 18, Peralta wrote another letter to Domingo demanding a reply. He also filed a petition for "declaratory judgment on the validity of the inclusion of petitioner's name in the blacklist and watch list, with application for the issuance of writ of preliminary injunction."

As Bukhari waited for the court to act on his petition, he turned to the Philippine and Saudi press to get his story out. Articles on Bukhari's plight appeared in the Philippine Star, Today, Arab News, Okaz, and Al-Watan.

On July 1, Immigration Commissioner Domingo issued an order for Bukhari's name to be removed from the watch list upon recommendation of Bukhari's lawyer Peralta.

Alerted to Bukhari's plight, the Saudi Consul General in Manila Khaled Karakutly met Bukhari and assured him that the Saudi government would help him. After talks with the Department of Foreign Affairs, in which Karakutly vouched for the honesty and integrity of Bukhari, a meeting was arranged on July 3 between the consul, Bukhari and Ambassador Amable R. Aguiluz, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's special envoy to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. At that meeting, Karakutly asked Aguiluz to help get Bukhari's name lifted from both lists in the interest of retaining the friendly relations between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.

On July 18, 2003, Immigration Commissioner Domingo, upon recommendation to do so from Aguiluz, finally issued an order lifting Bukhari's name from the blacklist. But Bukhari's problems were not yet over. Despite Domingo's order, his name still appeared on both lists on the Bureau of Immigration's main computer in Intramuros. Bukhari could do nothing except wait. Finally on August 15 and August 19, his name was taken off the blacklist and watch list, respectively. He flew back to Jeddah on September 7, having missed the wedding of one of his daughters, but happy and relieved to be home surrounded by his family.

It seems that Bukhari was just an innocent victim of US President George W. Bush's worldwide campaign against terrorism. One wonders why the Philippine government so readily included Bukhari's name on its blacklist and watch list, when it had no hard evidence against Bukhari. One also wonders how many more innocent people are out there languishing in jails while the real terrorists are laughing as they plan their next attack.

When I asked Bukhari when he next planned to visit the Philippines again, if at all, he replied: "I plan to go back next month. I have to go back soon as I have a business there and I need to show that I have nothing to hide and have no reason to stay away. I'm not a terrorist and never have been."

Comments or questions? E-mail the author at manilamoods@hotmail.com. Visit the author's website at www.manilamoods.com.