MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration barred the entry to the Philippines of a 36-year-old Pakistani national who is suspected of being a trainer for the Islamic State terrorist group.
Immigration commissioner Jaime Morente said Naeem Hussain was intercepted on Sept. 22 when he arrived aboard an Emirates Airlines flight from Dubai at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga.
Named in the bureau’s list of suspected international terrorists, the foreigner was immediately excluded and booked on the first available flight to his place of origin, said Morente.
“He was turned away because he is on our alert list of suspected international terrorists for being an alleged trainer of Daesh,” the Immigration official said in a statement released on Monday, using another name for the IS.
Prior to this, Hussain has also been denied entry in May when he attempted to enter the Philippines, also from Dubai, via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Hussain denied being a terrorist, pointing out that he had been working as a digital designer for the last 16 years and that he traveled to the Philippines to visit his Filipina girlfriend who lives in Olongapo City.
The IS is waging a fanatical and brutal war against the United States and its coalition partners in Iraq and Syria where it wants to establish an Islamic caliphate.
Hussain has been on the watch list of the military intelligence community, which sought the Bureau of Immigration’s help in monitoring the Pakistani’s possible entry or departure from the country./PN
