RP forces kill 11 rebels, 17 U.S. advisers arrive
RP forces kill 11 rebels, 17 U.S. advisers arrive
Agencies, Isabela, Philippines
Philippine special forces troops on Friday killed 11 members of the Abu Sayyaf, a Moro guerrilla group holding an American couple hostage on a southern island, officials said.
Troops from the Light Reaction Company, a crack special forces team trained by the U.S. military, tracked down a band of Abu Sayyaf men on the outskirts of Isabela town and killed 11 of them in a 15-minute gunfight, Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu told reporters.
The bodies of two of the rebels were found while the retreating guerrillas took away the rest of the dead, said Cimatu, the southern commander of the Philippine military.
Two soldiers were wounded, he said.
On Friday, 17 U.S. military advisers arrived in Zamboanga city on the southern island of Mindanao, near Basilan island, to advise Manila in its fight against the Moro rebel group.
"We have agreed that we will listen to U.S. experts and their advice," Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said.
"We should not be surprised if we will be seeing a lot of American soldiers showing up in Zamboanga, because that is where they are going to do the training."
She said the troops would not take a combat role in fighting the Abu Sayyaf, which the U.S. has branded a terrorist group with possible links to Osama bin Laden.
"It's very clear that I had told (U.S. President George W. Bush) that I draw the line (at) soldiers on the ground, and that he respects the line I have drawn," Arroyo said.
Meanwhile, Arroyo said on Friday her government is preparing to take custody of a renegade Muslim governor arrested in Malaysia, adding she did not want him to burden her neighbor for long.
"I am very grateful to Prime Minister Mahathir (Mohamad) because of his really all-out cooperation with the Philippines regarding the issue of Nur Misuari," Arroyo told a news conference. "I do not want his support to become a burden on his government."
On Thursday, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that the detention of Misuari had put his government in a tight spot and feared his prolonged detention could sour ties with Manila.
In another development, Philippine officials have asked Malaysia to let a Filipino diplomat visit detained Muslim leader Nur Misuari, the two governments said on Friday.
The visit would be the first public step taken by both countries in determining the fate of the guerrilla leader-turned governor, who had fled to the Malaysian state of Sabah last month after mounting a failed armed revolt in the southern Philippines that left more than 150 people dead.