Philippines gets extra $10m to fight terror

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

MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- The United States will provide $10 million in emergency military assistance to the Philippines because of an "an unforeseen emergency ... that requires immediate military counterterrorism assistance."

The money, which will be used for military services and equipment, was authorized Monday by U.S. President George W. Bush in a memo to the secretaries of defense and state.

The Philippines is battling to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group which is fighting for a separate Islamic state in the south of the predominantly Catholic nation.

The group, which has a history of hostage taking and bombings, is believed to be aligned to the al Qaeda terror network thought responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

MOST WANTED Terror in the Philippines    SPECIAL Abu Sayyaf: Bearer of the sword    IN-DEPTH U.S. Military in the Philippines     CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

The Bush memo, dated June 28, says that "an unforeseen emergency exists that requires immediate military counterterrorism assistance to the armed forces of the Philippines".

It says that need can only be met through the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

"I therefore direct the drawdown of up to $10 million of defense articles and services from the inventory and resources of the Department of Defense to the Philippines for counterterrorism assistance," the memo says.

The Philippines and the United States meanwhile have agreed to hold a second round of exercises after the current maneuvers with Filipino troops end this month.

More than 1,200 U.S. forces are in the southern Philippines training troops in jungle warfare and counterterrorism to help them combat the Abu Sayyaf.

"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.

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