U.S. troops set for Abu Sayyaf war games

More than 600 U.S. troops will arrive in the Philippines to conduct the annual joint military exercises

By Amabelle Layug
CNN

(CNN) -- The Philippines is preparing for the arrival next week of some 660 U.S. forces for a 'shoulder-to-shoulder' exercise it is hoped will neutralize the Abu Sayyaf group and free two American hostages.

The group will include some 160 U.S. special forces who will join 1,200 Philippine soldiers in the exercises, dubbed "Balikatan 02-1."

A total of 7,000 Philippine special reactionary forces, including the U.S-trained Light Reaction Company, are involved in ongoing operations on the southern island of Mindanao, where the bandits are holding 20 hostages.

"In the course of this joint effort, we expect the Abu Sayyaf neutralized and the hostages recovered," Philippines Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said.

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Washington earlier identified the Abu Sayyaf as part of the al Qaeda terrorist network of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, the principal suspect in the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

The U.S. government has said its campaign against terror would include countries other than Afghanistan that are found to be harboring terrorists.

Concerned groups have protested the involvement of Americans in the battle against the Abu Sayyaf, claiming the exercise is a violation of Philippine law, which prohibits foreign troops from joining combat operations in the country.

Presidential spokesman Roberto Tiglao said the American troops would not engage in actual combat, but that they would participate, through the exercises, in the rescue of American couple Martin and Garcia Burnham.

Beheaded

Legal questions have been raised against the heightened presence of American troops in the Philippines

"Our biggest problem really is the Abu Sayyaf. Not in terms of a military threat but the Abu Sayyaf really has created the perception that we are an Afghanistan," Tiglao said.

"If this could result to the wiping out of the Abu Sayyaf, we'll just have to roll with the punches," he said.

The Burnhams, from Wichita, Kansas, were snatched from a tourist resort in May last year along with American Guillermo Sobero and 17 Filipinos.

Sobero, a Californian native, was later found to have been beheaded after his remains were uncovered by Filipino troops near the Abu Sayyaf's jungle lair in Basilan province.

The "Balikatan" exercise will take place in Basilan, where the Burnhams are being held, and in nearby Zamboanga City.

Long-term operation

Earlier joint-training exercises were small-scale and lasted for a couple of weeks to a month. Reyes said the latest training might be extended up to the end of the year "depending on the situation."

Reyes said the troops will "observe" and "make assessments" as they accompany Filipino soldiers in hunting down the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

The extremist Abu Sayyaf Group can become live targets of Philippine and U.S. troops

"At certain points, small teams of U.S. military observers would be allowed to enter combat areas in Basilan to observe at close range as Filipino troops battle the Abu Sayyaf," Reyes said.

However, Reyes was quick to assert that Philippine troops would try to prevent situations in which their American counterparts would be engaged in actual combat.

"They're (US troops) behind them (Filipino troops), observing . . . The guiding principle here is that combat operations would be conducted by Filipino troops. We don't want American troops directly engaged in combat. They would only be armed for self-protection," he said

The American forces will be bringing in planes and helicopters. Government and military officials earlier said that up to 1,000 American experts were coming over.

Treaty

Tiglao said the "joint training exercise" would be undertaken under the framework of the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty and the Visiting Forces Agreement.

The Philippines signed the VFA with the United States in 1999, allowing large-scale military exercises in an effort to boost military cooperation.

Tiglao also stressed that the exercises would not involve the setting up of US military facilities in the country as the US personnel will be housed in AFP camps and posts.

He also dismissed legal questions to the 1987 Constitution, which prohibits the presence of foreign troops in the country, saying that their presence would be "good for the country."