IMMIGRATION authorities barred a Pakistani who is suspected member of Al Qaida terror group from entering the country at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and was immediately turned back to his port of origin.
Muhammad Arif tried to enter the country but was intercepted at the Naia Terminal 1 upon his arrival aboard a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok.
“Arif presented his passport at the immigration counter, but the passenger registered a hit on the computer of the immigration officer showing that he is in the Interpol’s database of “Al Qaida Sanction List” of individuals,” BI chief Jaime Morente said.
The BI database, on the other hand, showed that the 43-year-old Pakistani was the subject of a blacklist order issued by then Immigration chief Ricardo David Jr. in Sept. 2011, also for being an alleged Al Qaida member.
Morente confirmed that the Pakistani is included in the BI database of blacklisted aliens and suspected foreign terrorists.
“We were informed that his purpose in coming here was doubtful because he could not pinpoint the places that he wanted to visit. He also could not tell why he was traveling alone,” Morente said.
“Our immigration officers had no choice but to exclude him for posing a threat to our national security and risk to public safety.”
Arif claimed he owns the Dawn drug store in Islamabad and is a distributor of Novartis Pharmaceutical Company.
The Pakistani also said he intended to vacation in the Philippines and stay for four days at the Malayan Plaza Hotel in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
Immigration authorities also noticed a striking resemblance between the passenger’s passport picture and the photographs of a Muhammad Arif stored in the Interpol database.