Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - A former ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Manila was suspected by Washington of "potential involvement" in terrorism, but a Saudi prince vouched for him, according to a secret United States memo from Riyadh released by the online whistle-blower WikiLeaks.
A senior White House official in the Bush administration had told Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, that Muhammad Ameen Wali (posted in Manila in 2004-2009) might be involved in "terrorism facilitation".
The Feb. 24, 2007, cable from the US Embassy in Riyadh, classified "secret", is the first document so far to directly reference the Philippines out of the more than 250,000 sensitive cables from 274 American embassies which Wiki-Leaks started posting last month.
Some 1,796 of these secret memos reportedly originated from the US Embassy in Manila although none have so far been posted online (as of Monday). There were 2,036 documents with references to the Philippines.
Malacanang (presidential palace) said it had yet to see the leaked Manila communications and thus it was too early to comment.
The memo that mentioned the Saudi ambassador to Manila said that Frances Fragos Townsend, then the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (APHSCT), had raised suspicions about the actions of Muhammad to secure the release of two unnamed prisoners with suspected terrorism ties.
Prince Saud told her that "some of his (Muhammad's) actions may have involved bad judgment rather than intentional support for terrorism," the memo said.
The conversation was said to have taken place in a private meeting held in Prince Saud's Jeddah home in February 2007. It was also attended by former US Ambassador to Riyadh James Oberwetter, who wrote and transmitted the memo.
"Waly (sic) had been investigated, he said, and no evidence was found regarding his involvement," Oberwetter recalled Prince Saud as telling Townsend.
Since posting the leaked cables, WikiLeaks' US domain provider pulled the plug on the website, forcing it to relocate to a Swiss host.
In raising US concerns about Muhammad, Townsend had broached the envoy's "intervention to get two members of IIRO (International Islamic Relief Organization, a Saudi-based charity) out of prison."
Prince Saud is reported to have said that there was no basis for the Americans' suspicions.
"Since this Ambassador's assignment in Manila would be ending in several months, Saud asked for USG (United States Government) evidence of his involvement. Townsend said the USG would cooperate with the Mubahith in providing evidence," the memo further read.
The Mubahith is the secret police of Saudi's interior ministry.
The cable was addressed with "immediate priority" to the US National Security Council, the Secretary of State, the American Consulate in Jeddah, and five other American offices on Middle Eastern affairs.
Muhammad served as Saudi ambassador from May 2004 to November last year.
An email seeking comment from the Saudi embassy in Manila was not answered at press time.
