U.S. troops to stay on in Philippines

U.S. troops are training Filipino soldiers to help them defeat the Abu Sayyaf rebels

MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- The Philippines and the United States have agreed to hold a second round of exercises after the current maneuvers with Filipino troops end this month.

"The new (exercises) ... will follow after the end of the (current exercises) on July 31," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Monday in a speech to local officials in Tagum city on southern Mindanao island.

The U.S.-Philippine exercises, which began early this year, were the first and biggest expansion of the U.S.-led war on terror outside Afghanistan.

More than 1,200 U.S. troops have been training Filipino soldiers in jungle warfare and counter terrorism in the Southern Philippines to help them defeat the Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels.

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The United States has linked the Islamic militant group, who are notorious for their kidnappings, with the al Qaeda terror network.

Rebel leader killed

Last month, rebel leader Abu Sabaya was killed in a firefight between Philippine naval special forces and Abu Sayyaf rebels.

President Bush had praised Arroyo for her fight on the war against terror after the leader was killed.

Sabaya played a major role in the abduction last year of American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham.

Martin Burnham was killed in a shootout last month when the Philippine military came across rebels in the jungle and began firing. Gracia Burnham survived the rescue operation.

Arroyo gave few details about the new exercises, but indicated they would be held in an area on the Mindanao mainland where both Muslim separatist rebels and communist guerrillas operate.

An army officer was killed while six others were injured during a recent clash with the Abu Sayyaf rebels

A joint statement released Monday called the U.S. counter-terrorism training exercise a success, with American forces playing an "important role" in helping combat Muslim terrorists.

U.S. Pacific Command Adm. Thomas Fargo and Philippine Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Roy Cimatu also approved a joint program for 2003 under a bilateral Mutual Defense Treaty, according to a statement from Honolulu, dated last Thursday.

Next year's program will include "combined military exercises, exercise-related construction activities, personnel exchanges and ship visits, and security assistance activities," the statement said.

It will be submitted to the two governments for review and approval.

Although armed, the U.S. special forces are not allowed to engage in combat but can fire in self-defense.

-- CNN's Maria Ressa contributed to this report