A Saudi Arabian man, detained for suspected al-Qaida links after arriving at Manila’s airport, was turned over to the Saudi ambassador on Friday after investigators failed to find any evidence against him, Philippine immigration officials said.
The man, identified by the officials as Saudi Arabian national Abdullah Nassar al-Arifi, 34, appears on an FBI list of terror suspects, the officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
He was detained shortly after arriving on a Philippine Airlines flight from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Wednesday, the officials said.
“His name and date of birth jived with the list,” Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez told DZMM radio.
The officials said earlier the man may have links to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, as well as the 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia.
But an investigation — which the officials said included the FBI — failed to link him to terrorism, and al-Arifi was turned over to the Saudi ambassador on Friday, said an immigration intelligence official who declined to be identified.
The official said al-Arifi would still be deported to Saudi Arabia because his name was on the U.S. list.