US warned Philippines of coup against Arroyo

MANILA: The United States embassy in Manila warned of a possible coup attempt againt Philippine president Gloria Arroyo as early as April this year, a newspaper said on Sunday. In a report written on April 15, former US charge d’affaires Joseph Mussomeli referred to “rampant rumours” at the time that a coup attempt could occur “as early as May 2005,” the Inquirer said. Titled “Philippines: Public Unease Growing,” Mussomeli’s intelligence assessment could be one of the estimated 100 classified FBI files allegedly downloaded by the FBI’s Filipino-American intelligence analyst Leandro Aragoncillo and sent to several personalities in the Philippines, the paper said. The FBI last week arrested Aragoncillo and former Philippine police officer Michael Aquino on espionage charges. “The broad support that Macapagal-Arroyo enjoyed following her inauguration last year has faded and public frustration with the economy, corruption and the stalled efforts at reform have taken their toll on her standing,” Mussomeli said. US embassy press attache Matthew Lussenhop would not comment on the report Sunday. Mussomeli left Manila last month to take up a new appointment as the US ambassador to Cambodia. afp

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