U.S. Advisers to Expand War on Terror to Philippines
nytimes.com
By REUTERS
January 14, 2002
Filed at 8:19 a.m. ET
MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. special forces will join the Philippine military in operations against Muslim guerrillas Tuesday, but will limit themselves to advice and will not take part in combat, senior Philippine officials said.
The operation, billed as a joint exercise with the name of ''Balikatan'' (shoulder-to-shoulder), will be the first significant military expansion of Washington's war against terrorism beyond Afghanistan.
But the officials stressed that, in line with curbs in the Philippine constitution on the role played by foreign troops on Philippine soil, the special forces and other U.S. troops supporting them would not go into battle themselves against the rebels.
``The U.S. troops will be armed for self-protection and will engage in combat only for self-defense,'' Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes told reporters Monday.
``They will observe and make joint assessments on the Philippine troops as the latter go out in operations,'' Reyes said. ``They will, however, be behind the Philippine troops.''
The joint operations will target the Abu Sayyaf, a group that has been holding an American missionary couple hostage since May and which Washington has linked to suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.
Philippine presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told reporters that Balikatan would be held on the southern island of Basilan, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold, and in the nearby city of Zamboanga, the headquarters of the southern military command.
``This joint exercise will involve the training of our troops in an actual terrain of military operations and against an actual enemy,'' he said.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz has said the second phase of the war on terrorism could focus on kicking terrorists out of countries like the Philippines, Somalia, Yemen and Indonesia.
But the Philippines is the only country so far where Washington has committed troops, albeit as non-combatants.
Reyes said some 150 U.S. special forces troops and about 500 support and maintenance personnel would be involved in the exercises, which would last until June but could be extended until the end of the year.
The Philippines, a former U.S. colony and one of Washington's closest allies in Asia, has long been troubled by the Abu Sayyaf, which says it is fighting for an Islamic state in south of the Roman Catholic nation but has focused on kidnap-for-ransom.
It is holding a Filipina nurse hostage along with the two Americans on Basilan, which is 560 miles south of the capital Manila.
The United States has offered troops to the Philippines to fight the guerrillas, but Manila is bound by its constitution which does not allow foreign troops to participate in combat in the country without an act of Congress.
Small groups of U.S. military advisers have been in the Philippines in recent months provide training.
The guerrillas are believed to number less than 1,000 but are heavily armed and enjoy considerable support from the mainly Muslim population on Basilan.
Some 5,000 Philippine troops have been on Basilan for months to combat the guerrillas and trying to rescue the hostages. Thousands more are on Jolo, an island further south, where Abu Sayyaf guerrillas are also based.
``U.S. trainers and consultants will be working very closely with our troops, first at the battalion and then at the company-level on Basilan and in Zamboanga,'' Tiglao said.
``The U.S. obviously has had very extensive experience in going after terrorists and it would be for the good of the country if we get such help,'' he added.
``We are confident that the majority of the Filipinos would accept U.S. help within the boundaries of the constitution.''
Copyright 2002 Reuters Ltd. | Privacy Information |
