The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tue revealed that a Pakistani man allegedly linked to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda attempted to enter the country but was foiled by the authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
According to Inquirer, 43-year-old Muhammad Arif arrived from his flight from Bangkok via Thai Airways. He was barred from entry when the BI officer discovered that his name was on the database of blacklisted aliens and suspected foreign terrorists. His name was also included in the Interpol database of “Al Qaeda Sanction List.”
BI commissioner Jaime Morente said that Alif cannot pinpoint the local destinations he wanted to visit. He also couldn’t explain why he was traveling alone.
“Arif claimed to be the owner of the Dawn pharmaceuticals store in Islamabad and a distributor of the Novartis Pharmaceutical Company,” Inquirer reports.
“Our immigration officers had no choice but to exclude him for posing a threat to our national security and risk to public safety,” Morente said.
