RP considers U.S. help on Mindanao

RP considers U.S. help on Mindanao

PHILIPPINES: President Gloria Arroyo said on Wednesday that U.S.
anti-terror troops may help local forces fight armed Moro
militants on the major southern Philippines island of Mindanao.

The announcement by Arroyo, a staunch Southeast Asian ally of
U.S. President George W. Bush's war on terror, follows a joint
exercise between the two countries on the small southern island
of Basilan last year.

Using the codename Balikatan, (Shoulder to Shoulder) small
units of American Special Forces trained Filipino troops fighting
the Abu Sayyaf, a small Moro guerrilla group.

The U.S. and Filipino governments had planned to expand anti-
terrorist training outside Basilan and into other areas of the
southern Philippines this year.

But talks over rules of engagement bogged down over Philippine
resistance to allowing U.S. troops assume a combat role,
something that is prohibited by the Filipino constitution. -- AFP