LONDON, Jan 28: Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on Monday that US troops arriving in the country would act only as military trainers and not front-line fighters in the struggle against Muslim extremists.
Some 660 US soldiers have started arriving in the southern city of Zamboanga and nearby island of Basilan, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who have held a US missionary couple and local nurse hostage there for almost eight months.
“They (US troops) will not do combat,” Arroyo told a conference at the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies.
Manila insists the US troops, which include about 160 special forces soldiers, are only there for joint military training. The exercises, which were due to start this week have been postponed for several days for what officials describe as logistical reasons.
But critics say it is highly unusual to conduct exercises in areas where there is an active enemy force and have suggested it is a cover-up to allow US troops into a combat role as part of the US “war on terror.”
Washington has also linked Abu Sayyaf to the Al-Qaeda network of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, who it blames for the September 11 hijack attacks on the United States, which left more than 3,000 people dead.
But Arroyo said the military exercises were part of a long-standing military agreement between the two nations.
“Many of the doubts stem from the assumption that it will escalate into something else, but it will not escalate because that was the very condition that I gave President Bush when we talked about doing this exercise together.”
Although the US will provide support and advice, Filipino soldiers, highly accomplished in jungle warfare, will be doing the dirty work against Abu Sayyaf militiamen, Arroyo said.
“Our soldiers are good enough to do the fighting themselves — as long as they have the right training, technical assistance, equipment and intelligence,” Arroyo said.
In playing a background role, US forces would not be violating the Philippines Constitution, which forbids deployment of foreign troops for combat missions on its soil.—Reuters
