February 10, 2003	Monday	Zul Hijjah 8,1423

MANILA, Feb 9: The Philippines said on Sunday it had begun closing down its embassy in Baghdad and it expected to receive “confidential advance notice” from the United States in the event of an attack on Iraq.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said eight of the 12 members of Manila’s embassy staff in Baghdad had left the country and the four others, including the ambassador, planned to leave on Tuesday.

“We are closing the embassy in Baghdad for practical reasons at the proper time,” Golez said.

“I can only assure that there will be confidential advance notice, but how much, I really don’t know,” he told reporters, when asked if the Philippines would get notice of a US attack. “Knowing operational security, it won’t be much of an advance notice.”

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is a staunch supporter of the United States anti-terror campaign.

About 1.5 million Filipinos work in the Middle East, remitting billions of dollars annually. But only about 120 are in Iraq, many of them employed by U.N. agencies and most of the others married to Iraqi nationals. Golez said no decision had been made on whether or not those working at U.N. agencies would evacuate and whether those married to Iraqis would stay or move to neighbouring Jordan.

He said Arroyo had raised the possibility of Philippine troops taking part in a future peace-keeping mission in Iraq but no decision had been reached.

“Definitely, we will not participate in combat,” he said.—Reuters