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Muslim
Official Warns Arroyo On U.S. Troops
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Filipino soldiers carrying notebooks before a lecture by U.S. trainers
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MANILA,
February 26 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A senior Muslim
government official on Wednesday, February 26, warned President Gloria
Arroyo against allowing U.S. combat troops onto Abu Sayyaf stronghold of
Jolo island, saying it could lead to a war.
Parouk
Hussin, the governor of a Muslim self-rule area in the south that
includes Jolo, said the government should "tread carefully on
sensitive issues like active participation in combat operations,"
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Hussin,
a Jolo native and former senior leader of the separatist Moro National
Liberation Front that signed peace with the government in 1996, said he
regretted that the national government did not consult him over the
planned U.S. military operation.
"But
these are decisions from the top, so I don't think we have a right to
question (them)."
He
stressed that the constitution banned foreign combat troops on
Philippine territory, and said allowing the Americans to fight the Abu
Sayyaf could lead to "accidents, especially casualties from our
friends outside."
"They
might retaliate massively, and who will be the victims again?
Civilians."
Hussin
recalled the bloody U.S. pacification campaign against the Tausug, the
people of Jolo, during the American colonial period in the early 20th
century.
"This
is still fresh in the memory of some of the Tausugs. They do not like a
situation where these sad memories will be rekindled," Hussin said.
When
Tausug mothers put their babies to sleep, "they do not sing
lullabies like 'Summertime' or 'Hush Little Baby'. They sing ballads
like, 'go to sleep so you'll be strong so you can avenge the atrocities
committed' on your father," he said.
Hussin
expressed conviction that Filipino troops are "very much on top of
the situation" and have "marginalized" the Abu Sayyaf
gunmen who he said are on the run.
"We
are not objecting to their (American troops) coming, training our
soldiers, and provide them with equipment," he added.
Manila
announced earlier this month that U.S. soldiers would be deployed in
Jolo to provide counter-terrorism training to Filipino troops.
Filipino
officials have since tried to downplay reported comments by an
unidentified Pentagon official that the 1,750 U.S. troops to be assigned
to Jolo would engage in actual combat against the Abu Sayyaf.
On
Friday, February 21, Philippine's Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said:
"Nothing is final."
"The
only thing that is final is that anything that we will do will be within
and in accordance with the constitution and we will not violate any of
our laws," Reyes said.
"There
are ongoing discussions (with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld) on
the details of (the Jolo U.S. deployment), and until after the
discussion of the details we are not going to discuss anything
more" in public, he added.
Philippines
Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said the two governments are to draft the
"terms of reference" of the Jolo joint operation "within
days".
President
Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye insisted that U.S. troops would not
engage in combat against the Abu Sayyaf.
He
said the American forces would only train and then observe Filipino
troops in their hunt for Sayyaf, designated by the U.S. government as a
"terrorist" organization with alleged ties to al-Qaeda
network.
"In
other words, no combat troops. Everything will be for training and
advice," Bunye told AFP.
He
said the ground rules in Jolo were likely to be similar to the
conditions last year when American troops advised Philippine soldiers in
hunting down Abu Sayyaf on the southern island of Basilan.
U.S.
soldiers accompanied local troops in pursuit of the Abu Sayyaf on
Basilan as part of a joint training program. The Americans were armed
but could only fire back in self-defense.
"The
soldiers there would only train, assist and advise but the U.S. forces
can fight back in self-defense if they are attacked during the
training," southern Philippines military chief Lieutenant General
Narciso Abaya said.
The
Abu Sayyaf has killed two American hostages in recent years and are
blamed for an October bombing that killed a U.S soldier and two
Filipinos in the southern port of Zamboanga.
The
group still holds three Indonesian seamen and four Filipino Christian
preachers hostage on Jolo.
The
U.S. Special Forces troops gave anti-terror lectures to Philippines
soldiers.
Journalists
were allowed into the tightly-secured training area in the Philippine
Army camp on the city's outskirts on Wednesday, three days after the
launch of the 10-month joint training program.
Twelve
U.S. soldiers lectured their Filipino counterparts on techniques to be
used in possible encounters with Abu Sayyaf fighters in the south.
Colonel
Horacio Lactao, the Philippine military's deputy director for education
and training, said that the Filipinos would first be trained for
small-unit, platoon operations, gradually advancing to larger company
formations.
This
training would include combat exercises in such areas as close quarter
battle, survival techniques and medical evacuation, he said.
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