The US embassy to the Philippines on Wednesday said that the US decision to deport 89 Filipinos staying illegally in the United States was not related to the Philippine troops' withdrawal from Iraq.

The move was part of a "routine immigration procedure," said the embassy's assistant information officer Ruth Urry.

A foreign affairs official, who refused to be identified, said that the deportees landed at the Diosadado Macapagal International Airport in Clark in the northern province of Pampanga Friday aboard US charter flight from California.

They were sent back home for various offenses ranging from overstaying, assault, car theft, fraud, extortion and drug-relatedcases, he said.

He also questioned the timing of the deportation of the Filipinos which was done a few days after the 51-member contingent was withdrawn from Iraq.

The humanitarian contingent was pulled out on July 20, about one month before the expiration of their tour of duty in exchange for the release of the kidnapped Filipino trunk driver, Angelo de la Cruz.

Urry, however, said that these flights were arranged with the cooperation of the Philippine and American immigration departments and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

"(Such flights) have been going on since 2003. This is the eighth flight," he said.

Dismissing earlier reports said that the deportation of the Filipinos from the United States was part of its government response to the Philippines' pullout decision, Foreign Affairs undersecretary Rafael Seguis also clarified that the operation wasproper to react "because that has been going on for sometime sinceSeptember 11 (2001)."

According to the records of the Philippine foreign affairs department, as of December 2003, there are an estimated 185,000 undocumented Filipinos in the United States.

Source: Xinhua