http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/world/story/236985p-2265337c.html U.S. troops will enter combat zones in Philippines, commander says By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Published 8:50 a.m. PST Saturday, Feb. 2, 2002 ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) - U.S. special forces sent to the Philippines on an antiterrorism training mission will enter combat zones but will use their weapons only in self-defense, their commander said Saturday. Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster also rejected comparisons between the American war in Afghanistan and the six-month mission in the Philippines. "The comparisons are, I think, not terribly dramatic other than the fact that we have an ally that wants to destroy terrorism," Wurster told Associated Press Television News. "We want to destroy terrorism and they've asked for certain kinds of help. We're offering that certain kind of help." That help does not include combat assistance, which was rejected by the Philippines, Wurster said. The U.S. military is providing training and weapons to the poorly equipped Philippine military to help destroy the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, which is holding Wichita, Kan., missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap on nearby Basilan island. They are the last of scores of hostages seized since May. Some, including Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif., have been beheaded. Others escaped or were freed, reportedly for large ransoms. Abu Sayyaf has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network believed to be responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Although most American troops haven't arrived yet, the training exercise started Thursday. Potentially, about 160 U.S. special forces could be among the 660-strong American contingent accompanying Filipino troops to war zones on Basilan, where the rugged jungles in the southern Philippines have seen frequent bloody clashes with the rebels. Many Filipinos, exasperated with their military's failure to crush the Abu Sayyaf, have welcomed the U.S. troops. But left-wing groups and many intellectuals traditionally wary of Washington have opposed it with small, rowdy protests at the U.S. Embassy and the presidential palace in Manila. Late Saturday, about 200 supporters of the leftist New Patriotic Alliance marched with torches to the embassy, chanting, "U.S. imperialist - No. 1 terrorist!" The protesters dispersed peacefully. Some question whether the exercise could violate Philippine constitutional limits on the presence and activities of foreign troops. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose economic development plans in the impoverished south have been stymied by law-and-order problems, maintains the exercise is allowed under a bilateral 1999 agreement. Wurster said it was important for U.S. soldiers to observe their counterparts in combat, and for both sides to cooperate on intelligence work to support offensive operations. "I would not understate the fact that there are going to be American forces that are accompanying Philippine commanders and their units into dangerous places," Wurster said. "It's inherent in any military man's frame of reference that the right to defend oneself is assumed. I don't think that should be a point of debate." Wurster also acknowledged that "there are many people who would like to hurt us here." On Wednesday, a U.S. Air Force plane sustained light damage when it was hit by gunfire during a training exercise in the northern Philippines. No one was injured and the source of the small arms fire has not been determined, Philippine Air Force officials said. A communist rebel spokesman denied Saturday that guerrillas fired at the plane. The Communist Party of the Philippines opposes the joint maneuvers. Wurster said U.S. planes no longer would fly over that area. Despite the risks, Wurster emphasized the need to immediately end the Abu Sayyaf threat in Basilan because "a small number of terrorists hold the entire island hostage." ===================================================== _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
