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Friday, May 16, 2003
US deployment in the Philippines to go on despite terror threats (10:43 am)
MANILA -- US troops will still be deployed in Mindanao despite possible new terror threats by Muslim extremists linked to al-Qaeda, the government said Friday.
Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said the planned joint US-Philippine military exercises in the south, codenamed "Balikatan" (Shoulder-to-shoulder) will proceed after a State Department report of possible new terror attacks.
"The Balikatan will go through and we are ready for those kind of threats," Reyes said.
US forces are to assist the Philippine military in operations targeting the Abu Sayyaf, a kidnap gang based in Mindanao, which has been linked to al-Qaeda.
Reyes described the Abu Sayyaf threat as "old hat," and assured the public that the military was taking steps to quash the group. Spokesmen for the US embassy here could not be contacted for comment.
The US State Department warned on Wednesday that threats to US interests were present in Southeast Asia and identified the Abu Sayyaf as a possible source of attacks.
"The (group) remains a security threat to areas in (the Malaysian state of) Sabah, which is close to the southern Philippines," the State Department said.
he warning was issued just after the deadly suicide bomb attacks in Riyadh that have been widely blamed on al-Qaeda, the terror network of Osama bin Laden.
The Abu Sayyaf was blamed for a bomb attack in 2002 that killed a US soldier and two Filipinos in the south and have been responsible for several kidnappings of foreigners and Christians in the region.
Filipino soldiers, assisted by US advisers, diminished the Abu Sayyaf's forces in Mindanao and Basilan islands last year.
American troops are scheduled to hold similar joint operations in the southern islands of Sulu-- another Abu Sayyaf stronghold-- later this year. However, Manila insists they will be limited to a support role and will not be allowed to engage in actual combat. AFP
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