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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
RP, US forge new security arrangement to intensify fight against terror (5:00 p.m.)
MANILA -- The US and the Philippines have agreed to forge a new security arrangement to bolster their battle against terrorists and other threats like piracy, Philippine and US officials said Wednesday.
The accord involves setting up a new joint panel called the Security Engagement Board, details of which would be announced soon by Philippine defense officials and the U.S. Embassy, a Philippine defense official told The Associated Press.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The security board would allow the longtime military allies to cooperate better and deal with nontraditional security threats like terrorism, piracy and bird flu, the official said.
"This is a government-to-government agreement. It's a Philippine initiative for both governments to establish this Security Engagement Board," US Embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop told the AP.
"It will provide a clearer framework for consultations and planning to address nontraditional security concerns," he said.
The two nations signed a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty that calls for cooperation in battling external security threats in either country.
They also have also signed a Visiting Forces Agreement that allows US forces to join large-scale military exercises in the Philippines.
The official said the security board would allow both nations to jointly deal with terrorism and other threats not falling under the Mutual Defense Treaty.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is one of Asia's most vocal backers of Washington's global war on terror and has allowed US forces to train and arm Filipino soldiers battling al-Qaida-linked militants in the southern region of Mindanao, the scene of decades-old separatist uprisings.
Although both governments have justified the American military presence in the south as part of authorized joint military exercises, left-wing groups have questioned the legality of US troops' presence near southern battle zones and have demanded their withdrawal.
The Philippine Constitution forbids foreign troops from engaging in local combat.
Impoverished Mindanao, home to the country's minority Muslims, has been the scene of high-profile ransom kidnappings, beheadings, bomb attacks and acts of banditry blamed on a small but violent al-Qaida-linked group the Abu Sayyaf, which is on Washington's list of terrorist organizations.
Abu Sayyaf rebels abducted three Americans from a resort in 2001. One was beheaded by the rebels, another was killed and the third wounded but rescued during a US-backed Philippine army commando assault. |
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