Philippine officer sacked over 'leak'

Australia's and Canada's missions remain closed

A senior police officer in the Philippines has lost his job for allegedly leaking an intelligence report of a possible terrorist attack - a move that prompted Australia and Canada to close their embassies in Manila.

He did harm to our country

President Gloria Arroyo

The Philippine authorities say the officer concerned, Superintendent George Gaddi, was acting on exaggerated information and should have cleared it with his superiors first.

They are angry because they say the embassy closures have damaged the country's image.

Mr Gaddi will either be demoted or be dismissed from police service, depending on the outcome of an investigation.

'Specific and credible' threat

The Australian and Canadian embassies indefinitely closed their embassies on 28 November, citing "specific and credible" terrorist threats.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the threat was from Islamic extremists.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo ordered police officials on Thursday to punish Mr Gaddi for issuing the alert without permission.

"He did harm to our country," Mrs Arroyo said.

The Australian and Canadian missions are still shut, and are carrying out their work at different premises.

Manila's protest

Their decision to close their doors has provoked a storm of protest from the Filipino administration.

Philippines officials have criticised the embassies for acting without due warning and without sharing their intelligence information with Manila.

The Philippines National Security Adviser, Roilo Golez, said at the time that officials in Manila doubted the credibility of the embassies' intelligence.

Several governments in South-East Asia have criticised the terror warnings issued by Western governments since the bombing on Bali in October.

Fears of new attacks in the region have intensified since the blast, which killed more than 190 people.

Australia on Thursday said the final Australian death toll from the Bali bombings was 88 and all of the victims had now been identified.