Posted on 01/24/2002 10:41:57 AM PST by michaelje
BASILAN, Philippines, Jan. 24 — Philippine troops killed at least eight members of the Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group, which has been linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network, military officials reported Thursday.
During the heavy gunbattle on Basilan island, troops reportedly spotted an American missionary couple the group is holding hostage, NBC’s Dana Lewis reported.
Meanwhile, in a policy shift, a Philippine army official said U.S. troops will not be allowed on the front lines with Filipino soldiers, even in a training role.
“THE PHILIPPINE army is fanning out now, chasing the Abu Sayyaf, which are on the run,” Lewis reported. The clash occured in a jungle area on the slope of a mountain in Basilan, an island three times the size of Singapore and stronghold of Abu Sayyaf, which has been holding the missionary couple and a Filipino nurse hostage there for almost eight months.
“Two bodies were found there with rifles and there were two wounded on our side,” said Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, the commanding officer of all Philippine troops in the southern region. “We are still scouring the area for the others,” he said, adding that the rebels had dragged away at least six other dead.
Hours after the clash, the United States flew in 13 troops and equipment to the southern Philippines. A U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane landed in the southern city of Zamboanga with the troops, dressed in military fatigues and carrying automatic rifles, and vehicles for use in joint exercises which get under way next week.
Hundreds of U.S. soldiers are expected to participate in the exercises, widely seen as the biggest expansion of Washington’s war against terrorism outside Afghanistan.
Cimatu said the U.S. forces had come from Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii and in Okinawa, Japan.
As troops arrived, Gen. Roy Cimatur of the Philippine army said that U.S. Special Operations troops will not be able to join Filipino soldiers on combat missions; instead they will be allowed to conduct training exercised only at military bases and not on the front lines. The U.S. forces will be able to assist the Philippine military with technical and nighttime operations training, but those session must be conducted away from combat operations, he said.
The shift is a notable one, as officials for weeks have said U.S. troops would be able to go to combat zones in an advisory capacity, understanding they could fire weapons only in self-defense. It came just hours after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo won key support Wednesday for joint military exercises aimed at wiping out Abu Sayyaf. She had assured Cabinet members and other officials that no U.S. troops would engage in combat.
The issue has polarized the country with critics claiming the U.S. presence violates the constitution, which bars foreign troops from fighting on Philippine soil.
After a meeting of the powerful National Security Council, Vice President Teofisto Guingona, who was reportedly close to resigning as foreign secretary over the exercises, told reporters he would stay on.
“The president is happy that there is a consensus in the meeting,” said presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao.
The security council includes Arroyo, Guingona, defense and security officials, majority and minority leaders in Congress and former presidents.
About 660 U.S. soldiers, including 160 from the Special Forces, would be involved in the exercise focused on Abu Sayyaf.
The planned exercises have generated protests from leftist groups and some politicians have questioned their legality. Opposition grew after officials revealed the exercise would be held in a combat zone.
As Arroyo opened the meeting at the presidential palace, riot police clashed with dozens of leftists who burned her effigy outside in protest over the foreign troops.
Police drove back the protesters with truncheons. There were no reports of serious injuries.
DEFUSING THE OPPOSITION
Arroyo has defused some opposition to the joint military exercises by promising that U.S. troops would not join the fight.
“We would like to state categorically that the president’s policy decision is that the Americans are not going to be engaged in combat, period,” said National Security Adviser Roilo Golez.
Guingona, who holds two posts, said he decided not to resign as foreign secretary after Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said Arroyo had “valid authority” to proceed with the exercise.
Golez said the security council was informed the exercise had “overwhelming public support” and is permitted by the bilateral Visiting Forces Agreement, which governs U.S. military forces in the country.
U.S. HOSTAGES
Secretary of State Colin Powell told Japan’s NHK television Sunday that the United States is sending “American trainers to work alongside the Philippine army and to see if we can help them do a better job of dealing with their problem.”
“Their problem — terrorism inside the Philippines — threatens Philippine citizens, but also American citizens or other citizens who might be tourists ... and we are missing two citizens at the moment, and we want to get our citizens back,” Powell said.
Security officials initially said the exercise could run up to a year. However, Golez said it would last only “six months, period.”
Golez said about 160 U.S. troops would be deployed on Basilan to help train Philippine soldiers now involved in trying to rescue American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan., and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap.
“They will be to the rear of the Filipino troops, so that would really avoid the possibility of them being cornered or being put in a situation where they have to defend themselves,” Golez said.
An additional 250 U.S. troops will be stationed in Zamboanga city, home to the military’s Southern Command, and 250 will provide support and aircraft maintenance in central Cebu City, Golez said.
Whoo-hoo!!! Hopefully these battles will keep the terrorists too busy to worry about any hostage-harming. Let's get Gracia and Martin home soon.
Pity we violated that principle to save their miserable shorts during WW2!
Along with many others, my father's blood is on the island of Leyte, and I think that, terrorism aside, gives us the right to pursue our national interest on Phillipine soil.
Based on past Filipino performance, it might be quite an athletic feat to remain to the rear of them.
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Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
Yeah, sure. *wink* *wink*
We'll be hands on at night identifying targets, then we'll step away and let the Philippinos attack them.
The bad guys aren't hiding anymore -- they can't.
I think the terrorists know that these two living Americans are the only thing standing between them and a Daisy Cutter.
The question is: how do you make a reasonable deal? I think the terrorists aren't willing to deal much, but also unwilling to die.
The answer would have to be: win by attrition.
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