Arroyo links terrorism to poverty

Arroyo delivers a keynote address at the opening day of the World Economic Forum in Hong Kong

By Andrew Demaria
CNN

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- As well as targeting terror networks, the global campaign against terrorism needs to attack poverty, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said on Monday.

In Hong Kong en route to Beijing, Arroyo told members of a club luncheon that the breeding grounds of terrorism were "vulnerable people" and those most vulnerable were often the poorest.

"It is evil that causes terrorism but the evil needs to spread its ideology as a mass base and the best breeding ground is poverty," she said.

The Abu Sayyaf Islamic militant group fighting for an independent homeland in the southern Philippines was an example of this, Arroyo said, drawing its roots from some of the most impoverished parts of the country.

But Arroyo also stressed the importance of dialogue between religions and religious groups, and urged the anti-terror coalition to seize the opportunity to promote Christian and Muslim solidarity.

"Even as the terrorists seek to make this a religious war, we must seek to make it an occasion for understanding one another's different cultures, we must have broader inter-faith dialogue and we are doing that institutionally in the Philippines," she said.

'Bite the bullet'

AUDIO President Arroyo says that understanding different cultures is important in combating terrorism. 1.1MB / 1min. 49secs. WAV sound Arroyo says that the Philippines is working to create stability in the region. 843k / 1min. 18secs. WAV sound    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

Any chance of reaching out to the Abu Sayyaf -- who have held captive an American couple and a group of Filipinos since May 27 -- was ruled out with Arroyo continuing to refuse to negotiate with the group.

Instead, the military has mounted a long-running military offensive that Arroyo said had produced "very significant victories" in recent weeks.

"We just have to bite the bullet now, knowing there are risks," Arroyo said, signifying that the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf had intensified.

"[It is] a superior strategy to neutralize or even degrade terrorists once and for all rather than to give into them by paying them ransom," she said.

The Philippine government has blamed the Abu Sayyaf for Sunday's bombing of a food court in the port city of Zamboanga in which at least five people died.

Though no one has claimed responsibility, officials believe that it was a ploy by the group to divert attention from the military offensive.

U.S. military advisers

Officials also said that they did not believe that a team of U.S. military advisers was the target of the attack. They were in Zamboanga a few miles from the blast site at the time.

The presence of the advisers was a "mobilizing of our mutual defense treaty", Arroyo said, and was "serving towards the end of the global war against terrorism."

However, Arroyo refused to outline the role of the advisers, except to say that in the past the U.S. had provided advice, training and equipment.

"The nature of the assistance has varied depending on the day. It is not a new thing," she said.

In return, the possibility of sending troops to assist in the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan was only remote, Arroyo said, adding that the U.S. were far better equipped and unlikely to need military support from the Philippines.

Rather, the Philippines has initiated an effort to create a tri-nation anti-terrorist coalition with Malaysia and Indonesia -- both predominantly Muslim nations where anti-U.S. protests and sentiment at a public level have been widely demonstrated since strikes on Afghanistan began.

Such a coalition would seek to provide stability in the region and work to share intelligence, tighten border controls and take part in joint peacekeeping actions, she said.