World IN BRIEF : PHILIPPINES : American Tells of Assassination Plan

An American who once worked as a mercenary for the Contras in Nicaragua said he was hired in 1990 by Raul Manglapus, the foreign secretary of the Philippines, to kill a rebel leader who opposes President Corazon Aquino. The assassination never took place, but Jack Terrell said in an interview on ABC-TV that he decided to make the story public because he believes that it eventually would surface. Terrell said he was hired for $30,000 to organize a squad to kill Lt. Col. Gregorio (Gringo) Honasan, who led coup attempts against Aquino.