Arroyo warns \"evil\" elements trying to kill US-Philippines ties<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nWashington\/Manila<\/p>\n
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo on late Tuesday warned \"evil\"
\nelements were bent on crushing the alliance between Washington
\nand Manila but promised to confront and destroy fear and terror.<\/p>\n
Winding up her state visit to Washington, a day after meeting
\nPresident George W. Bush, Arroyo delivered a strongly worded
\nspeech to the U.S.-ASEAN business council, also highlighting her
\ncampaign against domestic corruption.<\/p>\n
\"There are those with an evil agenda who wish to disrupt this
\nrelationship,\" said Arroyo at a gala dinner hosted by the
\ncouncil.<\/p>\n
\"We in the Philippines shall continue to work side by side
\nwith the United States as strongly as ever to overcome the
\nterrorism that knows no bounds so that we can together transform
\nfear into peace, progress and prosperity in the world.\"<\/p>\n
Arroyo spoke on a day when the U.S. authorities raised their
\nterror alert level to orange, its second-highest mark, following
\nattacks in Morocco and Saudi Arabia and warnings new strikes were
\nlikely.<\/p>\n
\"We have to go on, we have to defy the threat, we have to defy
\nthe fear, by confronting it, fighting it and destroying it,\" she
\nsaid, drawing warm applause.<\/p>\n
Arroyo is seen in Washington as a staunch ally in the U.S.
\ncampaign against global terrorism launched after the Sept. 11
\nattacks, and supported the U.S.-led war on Iraq.<\/p>\n
Before she left Manila at the weekend, Arroyo ordered a new
\nassault on the largest separatist force in the country, the Moro
\nIslamic Liberation Front (MILF) and both she and Bush on Monday
\nvowed to finally finish off another group, the Abu Sayyaf, which
\nthey have said has links to al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
\"Some loud voices denounce a closer alliance with the United
\nStates but let my state visit here be a message to those peddle
\nin the false currency of terror,\" Arroyo said at the dinner.<\/p>\n
\"The U.S. can help us help wipe out terrorism at home as it
\nwipes out terrorism within its own borders.\"<\/p>\n
Bush told Arroyo on Monday at the White House that the United
\nStates planned to designate the Philippines as a major non-NATO
\nally.<\/p>\n
The Philippine leader also used her speech on Tuesday night to
\npledge that her fight against corruption in the government would
\ncontinue, and cited new moves against tax cheats as evidence of
\nher desire to make the Philippines a safe destination for foreign
\ninvestment.<\/p>\n
In Manila, Philippine police on Wednesday arrested seven
\nalleged Moro rebels said to have been plotting bombing attacks in
\nthe capital Manila as three others were killed in a clash on the
\nsouthern island of Mindanao.<\/p>\n
The arrested suspects, Abdulbasit Macalaw, 33, Jimmy Salik,
\n39, Abdulwahid Mamuro, 38, Ricky Mendoza, 26, Into Kamid, 68 and
\nArip Macalaw, 40, were believed to be members of the Moro Islamic
\nLiberation Front (MILF).<\/p>\n
National police deputy chief Reynaldo Velasco said the seven
\nwere among 75 men rounded up at dawn on Wednesday in a Manila
\nseafront slum district.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Malaysia urged the Philippines and Moro separatist
\nrebels on Wednesday to stop fighting and return to negotiations
\nor risk turning the southern Philippines into another Aceh.<\/p>\n
Malaysian Ambassador Mohamed Taufik, whose government has been
\nmediating between Manila and the MILF, made the comments as a
\nmilitary offensive against the rebels entered its fifth day on
\nthe southern island of Mindanao.<\/p>",
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