Posted on 08/17/2002 8:07:08 PM PDT by knighthawk
BAGUIO, Philippines, Aug 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The spokesman of the communist insurgent movement in the Philippines Saturday, August 17, 2002, called for attacks on U.S. troops and companies in reaction to the U.S. labeling the group a terrorist organization, news agencies reported.
Gregorio Rosal, spokesman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), said the label was a sign of American "preparations for justifying its violation of Philippine sovereignty and launching a war of aggression," against local communist guerrillas.
In a statement released in the southern mountain city of Rosal, he said U.S. troops are vulnerable targets of tactical offensives by the CPP's military arm, the 12,000-strong New People's Army, and bound to suffer more casualties, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He also said that U.S. economic interests in the Philippines could be attacked through labor unrest by leftist unions and by "calculated pressure" from the NPA.
"U.S. multinational companies will realize just how much a U.S. war of aggression in the Philippines will disadvantage them," Rosal said.
He did not specify how U.S. firms would be targeted. Americans are the largest foreign investor in the country.
Rosal's threats came after the U.S. government placed the CPP and the NPA on its list of foreign terrorist organizations. The move resulted in the U.S., British and Dutch governments ordering a freeze on suspected CPP and NPA assets within their territories.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo hopes the international pressure will force the communists back to the negotiating table. Peace talks between the two sides were suspended last year after the NPA assassinated two legislators.
The communists say that the foreign governments will find few assets to seize. They also charged that U.S. efforts are part of a plan for American troops to attack local communist guerrillas.
U.S. troops recently completed six-month long joint operations with local forces against the Abu Sayyaf Muslim kidnapping group in the south. The Americans provided advice and assistance but were barred from actual combat except in self-defense.
U.S. troops are scheduled to begin another series of training exercises in the Philippines in October. However, there are no (declared) plans for American soldiers to join the fight against local rebels.
In a statement aired on local radio stations Saturday, Arroyo thanked the U.S., British and Dutch governments for freezing the communists' assets and insisted that the communist rebels were indeed terrorists, citing their attacks of civilians and on infrastructure.
A week ago, the head of the communist insurgents said that the United States wants to go to war in the Philippines, following the U.S. decision to label the rebels as terrorists.
"This designation of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines) as terrorist is a psychological warfare preparation for further U.S. military intervention and even aggression," the party's founder, Jose Maria Sison, said Saturday, August 10, 2002.
"I suppose the U.S. is raring to go for war in the Philippines."
However, he said this "intimidation by the U.S. and Manila government won't be effective", even if U.S. troops helped local soldiers battle the NPA, the 11,500-strong guerrilla arm of the CPP.
Sison did not say how the decision could affect the CPP, reportedly receives funding from leftist groups in western countries.
Philippines National Security Adviser Roilo Golez hailed the U.S. listing, saying "that was expected due to the serious threats they have been making against innocent civilians including Americans and U.S. interests."
He was apparently referring to an NPA statement in April, believed issued by Sison, ordering the guerrillas to "inflict severe casualties on the invading U.S. forces and to take punitive action against U.S. economic and related interests".
He also condemned anew the just-concluded, six-month long joint U.S.-Philippine operations against the Abu Sayyaf, a notorious kidnapping group in the south.
The successes against the Abu Sayyaf prompted President Arroyo to redeploy troops away from hunting the kidnap band and towards battling communist guerrillas elsewhere in the country.
"Now they are trying to spread the war. They are going to shift to a war," from the Abu Sayyaf to the NPA, Sison said.
"I suppose the U.S. and the puppet troops expect to score bigger victories against a nationwide force like the NPA."
Despite the renewed hostility, Sison said that his side was still awaiting informal efforts to reopen peace negotiations between the government and the NDF.
U.S.-Philippine defense relations improved considerably after Arroyo became one of the first leaders to declare support for the U.S.-led war against terrorism in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
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