The Philippines was excluded by coalition members in the consultations for the formulation of a new policy on terrorism in Iraq, a ranking Philippine Foreign Affairs official admitted Friday.

"No, we were not consulted," the official said, not inclined to be identified.

There is no need for Manila to come out with an expression of support to the coalition document since the Philippines is no longer regarded by the US as a member of the international force in the Middle East state, the official added.

The US Embassy in Manila also echoed Friday the remark of State Department spokesman Richard Boucher that the Philippines is out of the coalition, however maintaining the Philippines remains a US ally "At this time, the Philippines is not a member of the coalition in Iraq, but we remain an ally," US Embassy Second Secretary Ruth Urry told reporters.

"The Philippines remains an ally -- one with whom we have along-standing shared history and many common interest including defeating terrorism in the region," Urry said in a statement. However, Urry declined to comment on the implications of being removed from the coalition.

"I don't want to speculated on future actions," Urry said. She said the United States will continue to cooperate with the Philippines in a variety of ways in the global war against terrorism.

The US State Department announced that there are already 11 coalition members that have issued a statement of adherence to the policy dubbed as "Multinational Force Statement on Terrorism." Besides the United States, the countries are: United Kingdom, Slovakia, Singapore, New Zealand, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Denmark, Bulgaria, Australia and Albania.

"We expect to see more statements," Boucher told a press briefing in Washington earlier.

Last month, the Philippines pulled out its 51-member humanitarian contingent from Iraq after Iraqi militants threatened to behead Filipino hostage Angelo de la Cruz.

Although Washington regrets Manila's decision to "withdraw from the multinational force in Iraq," the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs claimed to be a part of the coalition and insisted that there was never an agreement or stipulation that states the contribution of coalition members is limited to sending personnelto Iraq.

The department noted there is a new and "broader" international coalition operating under the UN and not the one led by the Untied States, which makes the Philippines still a coalition member.

    The Philippine government repeated there is no let up in its commitment to fight terrorism domestically, regionally and worldwide.

Source: Xinhua