(AFP) - Philippine authorities have arrested a Malaysian man carrying 104 passports and believed to be an agent for a Muslim group pilgrimage to Mecca, officials said today.

Azmi Bin Salleh, a bearded resident of Kuala Lumpur who was clad in the traditional Muslim garb of white robes and white cap, was held by Manila airport police late Thursday as he tried to board a Kuwaiti Airlines flight bound for Bangkok.

Immigration officials said he was also found to be carrying 50,000 US dollars, violating customs regulations which set a 10,000-dollar limit to the amount of foreign currency that can be taken out of the country.

"He said he would use the money to pay the terminal fee," Manila airport security chief Marcelo Ele told reporters. The terminal fee costs about 11 dollars.

Cellphone with logo

"He could not explain why he has 104 Malaysian passports in his possession," Ele added.

"What made it interesting is, when we turned on his cellphone, we found a logo comprising the map of Afghanistan and the words Osama bin Laden."

Officials say this does not constitute an offense, but Azmi remains in detention at the immigration office amid a police investigation.

Philippine immigration commissioner Andrea Domingo stressed that it was "premature" to conclude that Azmi could be involved with terrorist activity.

"We have not fully (analysed) the information that we received and our operatives are hoping that they will get more information," Domingo told reporters.

Circumventing regulations

But Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines Taufik Mohammed Noor was emphatic. "It's not true that he is a terrorist," he told reporters.

Taufik told AFP that initial investigations showed the man wanted to apply for visas in Manila for a group of Malaysians seeking to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca.

This was apparently to circumvent regulations which require prospective Malaysian pilgrims to obtain their visas in Kuala Lumpur in line with a country quota imposed by the Saudi authorities.

Malaysians are also required to use accredited agencies to make travel arrangements to Mecca.

"Initial investigations show he was trying to beat the Malaysian regulations and might be trying to use the Philippine quota as the Malaysian quota may have already been filled up," Taufik said.

Visa fees

He said Malaysian laws also barred its citizens from holding another person's passport.

Taufik told reporters the money found on Azmi are visa fees he collected from certain clients.

"He tried to secure the visas here to make it appear that the applicants are from the Philippines," he said, adding that the Malaysian may have violating both Filipino and Malaysian laws with this act.