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Sunday, February 23, 2003
US-Philippine counter-terror drills begin (1:32 pm)
ZAMBOANGA -- Philippine and US forces officially opened Sunday a 10-month counter-terrorism program to crush a Moro band linked to global terrorists, officials said.
Southern Command (Southcom) Chief Narciso Abaya declared the "Bayanihan Exercises" open at the military headquarters in Zamboanga city in the south, which has served as the command center for previous operations.
"The terrorists are still on the loose, breaking dreams of people who aspire for peace and freedom," Lieutenant General Abaya told Filipino troops and an advance party of US soldiers.
"We cannot afford to let them dictate our lives. We have to put an end with finality to this menace that is threatening the very essence of democracy."
US troops are to train 12 "light infantry battalions" of about 6,000 Filipino soldiers in intelligence-gathering and counter-terrorism against the Abu Sayyaf group, wanted for kidnap and murder of dozens of foreigners over the last three years.
President Arroyo last week approved the sending of US troops to nearby Jolo island, an Abu Sayyaf stronghold ravaged to poverty by insurgency.
Officials said the deployments could start in mid-2003, but that final details and terms of reference were still being hammered out.
Manila and Washington have linked the Abu Sayyaf to the al Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. (AFP) |
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