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US War Games Against Abu Sayyaf Starts In The Philippines
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| Filipino students shout slogans in front of the American embassy in Manila |
With additional reporting by IOL correspondent Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA, Jan. 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Confusion over the entry of U.S. marines in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf group is still reigning in the Philipines as Filipino President, Gloria Arroyo, defended the deployment of the hundreds of American troops Wednesday.
Arroyo told local radio that the deployment was within the bounds of the 1987 constitution and American soldiers will only be acting as advisers, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"Our enemy is the Abu Sayyaf, who are international terrorists. They are not only an internal threat, they are an international threat," Arroyo claimed.
Arroyo was reacting to criticism by the opposition who claimed the deployment could lead to a similar U.S. military debacle as in the Vietnam War in the 1970s.
The legislators also demanded an intelligence briefing, noting that an admission by military officials that the U.S. trainers would be issued live ammunition and could fire back if attacked was raising some concern.
However, Arroyo said Wednesday the U.S. soldiers would only be "observing our soldiers from the back," AFP reported.
"The American forces will not be joining combat," she said, noting the training was no different than previous annual joint military exercises -- only that the "curriculum and location have changed."
The Abu Sayyaf is a small group allegedly set up in the early 1990s. It is on the run in southern Basilan island, where they are holding U.S. Christian missionary couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham, and a Filipina nurse hostage.
The announcement that a war game involving U.S. troops is to start in Mindanao was made Monday.
The war games will involve American and Philippine troops and will start this month in actual combat zones in Mindanao, and will last anywhere from six months to a year, Filipino government authorities said.
The U.S. soldiers will have the Abu Sayyaf as live targets during the operations. For the Abu Sayyaf, however, it is one of the wishes of its top leadership that is coming true.
Abu Sabaya the leader of a major faction of the Abu Sayyaf said a few months ago in 2001 that he welcomed the presence of U.S. troops with the local army.
He said his faction was eager to give a lesson to the U.S. troops, adding that the United States would never send soldiers to fight the Abu Sayyaf, since they were scared to face an enemy.
The start of the war was announced both in Malacañang and the defense department in Camp Aguinaldo.
The military exercise would be held in Basilan, where government troops are battling the Abu Sayyaf, and around Zamboanga City, headquarters of the Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) and main staging point for operations against terrorist groups in that part of Mindanao.
Holding the war games in actual areas of fighting will give it more realism “because this will involve the training of our troops in an actual terrain of military operations and against an actual enemy,” according to Presidential spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao.
More than 600 U.S. soldiers would be arriving in batches in Mindanao to take part in the annual exercise. They will be joined by some 1,200 Filipino troops.
Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said the joint exercise will be from January to June but maybe extended up to the end of the year, “depending on the situation.”
The United States has included the Abu Sayyaf in its list of so-called terrorist organizations with links to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.
Reyes said that only 160 of the 560 U.S. troops are Special Forces. The rest are support and maintenance personnel.
The Abu Sayyaf became popular after it went on a kidnap rampage in Sabah, Malaysia when it captured dozens of foreigners and held them hostage for months.
They claim to be fighting for an Islamic state in southern Philippines, but experts say they do not have a political lining.
Reyes said the objective of the exercise goes beyond the neutralization of the Abu Sayyaf and the rescue of the hostages.
“The objective is to enhance the capability to combat and to contribute to fighting terrorism,” he said.
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