Caucasian troops spotted at Jolo wharf
By Noralyn Mustafa and Alexander Young
PDI Mindanao Bureau
and Carlito Pablo
JOLO, Sulu--Several Caucasian soldiers believed to be US Green Beret commandos were reported to have been spotted near the wharf here early dawn yesterday.
Residents who fled Maimbung town because of the ongoing military assault against Abu Sayyaf gunmen also reported having seen American soldiers there, sources said.
The presence of the foreign soldiers in the war zone buttressed reports that American troops were helping the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the assault against the Abu Sayyaf.
Reports circulating in Zamboanga City said US soldiers have joined local forces in the operations. Local troops were also enjoying technical support from US forces, the reports said.
The reports could not be independently confirmed as all roads leading to and from the areas of military operations are off limits to civilians, including social workers and health workers.
But those who were at the wharf at dawn yesterday said they could not have been mistaken.
A source at the AFP headquarters in Quezon City confirmed that the US military had provided vital intelligence information to the government in preparing for the assault against the bandit group.
The source said the US government was able to keep tabs of plans for a military operation then being drawn up by Philippine authorities.
The source declined to say in what form the United States had assisted the Philippine government.
When pressed whether it came in the form of satellite photographs of the Abu Sayyaf camps, the source said, ''We asked.''
[It's more likely that US military provided Manila with surveillance/infrared UAVs --here's a leaflet:
huachuca-usaic.army.mil ]
French satellite
Robert Aventajado, erstwhile chief government hostage negotiator, said Saturday night that not only the Americans but also the French had tried using a satellite to track the movements of the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.
But Aventajado said satellites were not much of use because of Sulu's low cloud ceiling. Two French hostages are still being held by the Abu Sayyaf.
''We are better prepared this time'' compared with the military's grasp of tactical information in the Sulu operations to that in Basilan in late April, the source said.
The military launched an attack in Basilan on a faction of the Abu Sayyaf which kidnapped 50 schoolchildren and several adults. Thirteen soldiers were killed in the assault.
While most of the hostages were freed or rescued, the country was outraged by news that two teachers had been beheaded and that four other captives, including a Catholic priest, were killed.
The source said military planners went to the drawing boards as early as a few weeks after the Abu Sayyaf raid on the Malaysian island resort of Sipadan on April 23.
The Abu Sayyaf is on the US list of terrorist organizations. The group's financier is believed to be Osama bin Laden, one of the United States' most wanted terrorists.
In a joint press briefing Friday with US Defense Secretary William Cohen, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said the two governments were cooperating on the Abu Sayyaf problem, but he could not divulge details.
Cohen arrived Friday for meetings with President Estrada and Mercado as part of his six-nation Southeast Asian farewell tour. He left Saturday.
The President gave the green light to a military assault Friday night.
The United States and the Philippines have existing arrangements on intelligence sharing on matters of mutual concern, Mercado earlier said.
[snip]
inquirer.net
So, as I told you on the Kosovo thread, Filipino authorities have eventually knocked that French-Libyan hostage-act on the head.... Of course, as might have been expected, the French got pissed off about it:
Monday, September 18 2:02 AM SGT
Paris insists hostages safety must remain priority for Manila
PARIS, Sept 17 (AFP) - France has reminded Philippine authorities that the safety of hostages still held by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas must remain a top priority, the French foreign ministry said Sunday.
The reminder came on the second day of a major military operation launched by Philippine armed forces against the rebels on the island of Jolo, which France had not been made aware of in advance.
"We are in constant contact with political and military authorities in the Philippines, with whom we do not stop insisting that the hostages' safety must remain a priority," the ministry said in a statement.
President Jacques Chirac also expressed his concern for the two French hostages held in Jolo, saying that he took the matter "very seriously", the presidential palace said.
In a phone conversation on Sunday, Chirac told his country's ambassador to the Philippines, Gilles Chouraqui, that the safety of the two French hostages was "an absolute priority to France", the palace said in a statement.
Chirac said he hoped that "the Philippine authorities understand that it is a matter France takes very seriously", it added.
Authorities in Manila had advised that two French journalists, Jean-Jaques Le Garrec and Roland Madura were no longer in the camp which the army raided, the ministry added.
A foreign ministry crisis team met early Sunday but was unable to give any further information about the fate of the hostages since the military operation began.
[snip]
sg.dailynews.yahoo.com
Well, the thing is, these so-called French journalists Jean-Jaques Le Garrec and Roland Madura could be French undercover agents. Actually, such a scenario would not be a first for France's DGSE when dealing with overseas "special operations": about 15 years ago, showman Philippe de Dieuleveult was known only as the handsome thirty-something boy who travelled aboard a helicopter for TV game La Chasse au Trésor (Treasure Hunt). I recall I was a fan of that TV game: the selected entrants remained in a studio with the anchorman while Dieuleveult was flying thousand miles away from them, over the African bush, or the Amazon jungle.... So, we watched him jumping off the helicopter, down into a river, and running in the jungle, following the studio's orders.
Hence it was no surprise when, in 1990(?) we heard that Ph. de Dieuleveult was set on a new "private" venture: the going down of the Congo river from Kisangani to the Atlantic! Well, the whole venture turned into a nightmare: Zairean authorities reported that a couple of wrecked rafts had been found on the shores but neither survivors nor corpses had been recovered.... However, a few years later, Dieuleveult's brother told the French TV that Philippe confided to him that he was actually a DGSE agent --just in case an accident should happen to him.
Otherwise, those French journalists are just useful fall-guys who've been manipulated by their own government. BTW, French authorities should not get so indignant at Manila's forceful intervention in Jolo. After all, in 1988, when Jacques Chirac was France's Prime Minister, French storm troopers from the GIGN went for the "Uvea cave" with such an overkill that the hostage rescue-attempt turned into a bloodshed:
geocities.com
(sorry, couldn't find an English report)
After all, as former Chirac supporter turned jingo RPF leader, Charles Pasqua, once put it: "You cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs..." |
