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