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Marcos not welcome in Switzerland

BERN, Switzerland -- Deposed Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos reportedly planned to fly to Switzerland from his exile home in Hawaii but was told that he and his entourage were not welcome, the government said Thursday.

'Certain information was received about a probably imminent arrival of Mr. Marcos in Switzerland' last week, a government statement said.

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It said the seven-member Federal Council -- which in March ordered all Marcos assets in Switzerland frozen -- decided Nov. 12 to declare the former Philippine ruler persona non grata, along with his wife, Imelda, and 11 other members of his family and entourage.

Marcos and his family fled the Philippines last February after a military-backed civilian revolt ousted him from power and installed Corazon Aquino as president. The Marcos family has lived in exile in Hawaii ever since.

On Nov. 14, all Swiss frontier posts were instructed to refuse entry to Marcos.

Officials said Marcos was informed of the entry ban by Niklaus Rudolf Schweizer, the Swiss consul in Honolulu. They said the ban also applies to family and other members of the Marcos entourage in Hawaii, including former armed forces chief Gen. Fabian Ver.

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A Justice Ministry spokesman said it was unclear why Marcos reportedly was planning to fly to Switzerland.

'It certainly would not have been to collect any money because that is all blocked,' the spokesman said. 'What we wanted to do was to make it clear beforehand that he would be refused entry.'

In February, former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier was similarly declared an undesirable by Switzerland.

The Aquino government in Manila has accused Marcos, his wife, and their close associates of embezzling from $5 billion to $10 billion in state funds and depositing much of it in Swiss banks.

In opening accounts in Switzerland, the Aquino government said, Marcos used the names 'William Saunders' and 'John Lewis' and his wife used the name 'Jane Ryan.'

On March 24, the Swiss government ordered banks to freeze all Marcos assets and on April 25, the Philippine government demanded return of all Marcos funds.

The exact amount involved is unknown because Swiss banking secrecy laws make it a crime for banks to disclose account information without a court order. Courts issue such orders only if there is conclusive evidence the money represents proceeds from activities regarded as criminal in both Switzerland and the country where the money was made.

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Swiss lawyers engaged by the Aquino government are presenting documents to courts in Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne and elsewhere in Switzerland to prove Marcos' assets comprise funds embezzled from the state.

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