Arroyo names rebel hunter new RP military chief

Arroyo names rebel hunter new RP military chief

Reuters, Manila

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday named the top military officer fighting Moro guerrillas linked to the al- Qaeda network as the new armed forces chief of staff.

Southern commander Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, who will assume his new post later this month, currently commands about 40 percent of the 130,000-strong military and is in charge of operations in the lawless south.

A replacement for retiring chief of staff Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, Cimatu is the pointman for the country's most imperative security job -- ending a decades-old Moro separatist rebellion by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who Washington links to the al Qaeda network of Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden.

For months, his chief obsession has been to rescue a U.S. missionary couple and a Filipina nurse held hostage for almost a year by the Abu Sayyaf on the southern island of Basilan.

He is working closely with U.S. military forces training his troops in counter-terrorism to help defeat the Abu Sayyaf and rescue the missionaries, Martin and Gracia Burnham.

"Roy Cimatu is really chief of staff material," Arroyo said. "When I was doing my consultations with middle-level officers as well as with senior officers who had no personal candidates...the most popular choice was Roy Cimatu."

The choice may prove controversial as several generals were in the running and Cimatu was not the most senior. Arroyo said although he was due to retire in July, she planned to extend his term as chief of staff at least until Sept. 1.

Two opposition senators who were formerly military officers said they did not oppose Arroyo's selection of Cimatu but warned extending his career could provoke unrest among junior officers.

Senator and ex-armed forces chief Rodolfo Biazon said late dictator Ferdinand Marcos's penchant for retaining loyal generals beyond usual retirement age was a big factor which led to his ouster in a military-backed "people power" revolt in 1986.

Extending Cimatu's term would bolster suspicion among young officers that "the patronage system is back," Senator and former Army colonel Gregorio Honasan said.

Honasan led at least three of seven failed coup attempts in the 1980s against then president Corazon Aquino.