‘IS couple’ now out of NBI

MANILA, Philippines - The couple suspected to be members of the Islamic State (IS) were removed from custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday.

Officials, however, did not say where Kuwaiti Husayn al-Dhafiri and his wife Syrian Rahaf Zina would be taken.

Sources said the couple were taken out by a joint team of NBI and Bureau of Immigration operatives and taken to the custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for further questioning.

“Actually, we have said even before that we have no capacity to detain those kind of people because they are considered terrorists. In our detention facility, we jail those still undergoing investigation,” an NBI official said.

“Also, the intelligence community wants to know more from them, so they can also ask them,” the source added.

The NBI has reportedly concluded interrogation of the couple.

Al-Dhafiri and Zina had been living and working in Manila since January. They were arrested on March 25 at a condominium unit in Taguig City, officials said.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Friday said military intelligence reports had pointed to al-Dhafiri as allegedly involved in explosives manufacturing and planning a terror attack against his home country Kuwait.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente added al-Dhafiri is a ranking IS operative in Syria and is also known as Warsh al-Kuwaiti and Abu Muslim al-Kuwaiti.

Morente said Zina is the widow of Abu Jandal Al-Kuwaiti, a high ranking IS commander who was killed during an airstrike in December last year.

Morente said a working visa allowed al-Dhafiri’s entry to the country, which was approved by a recruitment agency Q8 Solutions.

He said the couple flew to Davao for four days and to Cebu for three days before flying back to Manila.

Aguirre added al-Dhafiri also entered the country as a tourist in 2016.

Aguirre though admitted the couple is not directly linked to any local terror group, saying they are still verifying their activities during their stay.

NBI spokesman Ferdinand Lavin said any information on the foreigners remains “compartmentalized.”

“It is an immigration matter, even we are not allowed access to that information,” he said.

Lavin said the NBI had asked permission to access the couple for information.

“Because we have to know the level of threat also at the NBI where we are keeping them in custody,” Lavin said.

“We were allowed but it was very limited to (their) involvement and all, but where they will be transferred, we cannot be given any information,” he added.

On the other hand, the local recruitment industry said the arrest of the Arab couple would also put a stop to what they claimed were illegal operations of Q8 Solutions, a recruitment agency.

Local recruitment officials claimed Q8 has collected some P100 million in medical fees from Filipino migrant workers.

Recruiters deploying workers to Kuwait and other stakeholders have long been calling for an end to the highly expensive new medical system covering all Kuwait-bound Filipino workers.

They said the medical system is burdensome for workers who are forced to shoulder the cost of the exorbitant cost of the mandatory health examination prior to deployment to Kuwait.

Under the new medical system, Kuwait-bound OFWs are required to undergo medical screening at a clinic accredited by Q8, which submits the medical results to the Kuwait embassy. –  With Mayen Jaymali