CHINA TOPIX

03/28/2024 05:07:32 am

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Qatar Sentences Alleged Filipino Spy to Death

A Qatar Emiri Air Force base

A Qatar Emiri Air Force base

What's the name of the Philippines' equivalent of the CIA?

Give up? You're not alone.

Hardly anyone, even Filipinos, know the name for the Philippines' CIA. Or even if that country has a version of the CIA.

The unknowing also includes Qatar that has sentenced a Filipino national to death for allegedly selling top secret Qatari military information to "Filipino state security forces" that the Qataris left unnamed.

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A lower court in Qatar condemned the Filipino to death on April 30 and sentenced two other Filipinos to life imprisonment for espionage and economic sabotage. The Qataris did not identify the three alleged Filipino spies.

The convicted Filipino is alleged to have sold sensitive information threatening Qatar's national security. Two other Filipinos were also found guilty of the same offense and sentenced to life imprisonment.

They were believed to have spied on the Qatari armed forces and a major Qatari firm from 2009 to 2010.

The Philippine government has not yet issued a formal statement on the alleged spying by its nationals. It did, however, say the Filipino facing death was employed in a Qatari state-owned company for close to a decade while the two other men were working as technicians at a Qatari military base.

One Qatari media report said the Filipino sentenced to death was really a Lieutenant working for "Philippine intelligence" and trained to investigate and record sensitive information.

The court accused the three Filipinos of providing information to Philippine intelligence officials about Qatar's aircraft, weaponry, and maintenance records, while also providing specific details about the names, ranks and phone numbers of staff members.

Court documents quoted in the Qatari media said the Filipinos worked together in allegedly spying on the Qatar Emiri Air Force. The "Filipino Lieutenant" received secret information through the two other Filipino then working as technicians in an air base.

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