Manila to raise antiterrorism front at ASEAN summit

Manila to raise antiterrorism front at ASEAN summit

MANILA (Agencies): Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said on
Friday she would push for the creation of a regional anti-
terrorist front at the annual meeting of Southeast Asian leaders
in November.

The Philippines put forward the idea as Washington called for
a global war against terrorists suspected to be behind the terror
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last week.

Vice President Teofisto Guingona, also the Philippines foreign
minister, has "already started to sound out the other two" on
setting up a regional anti-terrorism coalition, Arroyo said,
referring to Indonesia and Malaysia.

"In the course of sounding out, there was an idea that arose
that it might even graduate into a major agenda item in the next
ASEAN summit," Arroyo told a news conference.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders next
meet in Brunei on Nov. 5-6. They grouping also includes Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday said it was awaiting further details
on the proposal, noting that nothing official had been
transmitted by Manila.

The neighbors face growing rebellions by Muslim separatists
believed to be slowly linking up with each other.

The urgency of setting up a coalition was underscored by
Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad last month when he warned that
a Malaysian-based group of Islamic radicals had forged links with
Philippine and Indonesian separatists.

Retired general Eduardo Ermita, a security adviser to
President Arroyo, has also said that Indonesian authorities have
alerted Manila to firearms being smuggled by Filipino rebels to
Islamic separatists in Indonesia's Aceh province.

"In all probability" the guns could have been provided by the
Abu Sayyaf group, a small group of self-style Islamic freedom
fighters holding hostage 18 US and Filipino hostages in the
south, he said.

Philippine officials say the Abu Sayyaf once received aid from
Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, wanted by the U.S. dead or alive
for the September 11 attacks.

Manila backs U.S. President George W. Bush's call for a global
war against terrorists, with Arroyo earlier offering the use of
the country's airports for refueling or transshipment points for
U.S. forces.

Military sources here said three U.S. F-18 fighter jets from
the U.S. base in Okinawa, Japan landed at the Mactan
International Airport in central Cebu city on Friday for
refueling. They stayed only 30 minutes before leaving on an
unspecified mission.

The Philippines is expected to offer the United States the use
of its old bases in the Philippines as U.S. forces prepare for
possible military action in the wake of last week's attacks in
the United States.

Philippine National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said on
Friday the government was not considering sending Philippine
troops to help U.S. forces but it was expected to offer the
United States the use of Clark air base and Subic Bay naval base.

The United States has provided the Philippines a list of about
180 suspected terrorists as part of a worldwide alert,
immigration chief Andrea Domingo said on Friday.

Domingo said those on the list are "mostly Middle Eastern" and
the names were given to Philippine authorities over a period of
time.

"When they have additional information, they share with their
allies so that we can help each other," she said. "We are
cooperating with them because we are allies."

Domingo said the immigration bureau is checking the list
against immigration documents, including arrival and departure
files, deportation records and lists of foreigners enrolled in
local aviation schools.

"We don't want to harass them. What we are doing now is we are
just appreciating the documents that are now with us," she said.

"The new thing here is that all our people are now alerted and
they are asked to coordinate with the communities where they work
to get as much information as they can on anything that might
lead to the discovery of any terrorist or terroristic attacks,"
she added.

On Wednesday, Air Transportation Office chief Adelberto Yap
said FBI investigators went to his office to scrutinize lists of
foreigners who are studying or have graduated from Philippine
aviation schools.

An initial comparison with an FBI list of names showed "a lot
of similarities" although more verification was needed because
some may have used aliases, he said. Most were from the Middle
East.