RP to press U.S. on pledge to help fight terrorists

RP to press U.S. on pledge to help fight terrorists

Agencies, Manila

Manila will ask Washington for the immediate delivery of
helicopters, patrol boats and rifles to help fight Moro militants
when U.S. President George W. Bush visits on Saturday, the
Philippine defense chief said.

Washington, which has designated its closest security partner
in Southeast Asia a major non-NATO ally, has pledged to provide
Manila with more than US$30 million in hardware and training.

"Our government will thank but remind U.S. President Bush
about the military equipment he had promised because we really
need those things to effectively fight terrorists," Defense
Secretary Eduardo Ermita said on Tuesday.

He said the Philippine military lacked mobility and firepower
to eliminate threats from the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf in the
troubled southern Philippines.

"We have an immediate need of vital equipment that will boost
the effectiveness of the armed forces," said a draft document
prepared by the defense department, outlining points for talks
between Bush and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"Foremost is the dire need of helicopters."

Twenty second-hand UH-1H helicopters, a Cyclone-class patrol
boat and 30,000 M-16A1 assault rifles were promised when Arroyo
met Bush at the White House in May.

An additional 10 helicopters in the form of spare parts and a
refurbished C-130 Hercules transport plane were included in the
security package, Ermita said.

Bush has also pledged $30 million to develop war-torn areas of
the southern island of Mindanao once Manila strikes a peace deal
with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim
rebel group.

Manila is expected to get further access to U.S. military
equipment and supplies after Washington named the Philippines on
Oct. 6 as a major non-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
ally.

"This provides the legal foundation for broadening U.S.
military and security aid to the Philippines," the defense paper
said. "This will be our ticket to better security."

But a source in the defense department told Reuters that
Manila could not expect to get new military hardware, even after
it won the coveted "major ally" tag.

The source said experts from the U.S. Pacific Command who had
audited the Philippine military's capabilities did not recommend
"acquiring additional platforms".

"The experts team suggested that we focus more on improving
our logistics system, paying more attention to spares and other
maintenance cases," the defense source said.

Separately, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo on Tuesday
denied allegations the country's top terror suspect was executed
in cold blood to present a publicity coup ahead of U.S. President
George W. Bush's visit.

Opposition politicians have reacted with anger and skepticism
to government claims Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) bombmaker Fathur
Rohman Al-Ghozi was killed in a shoot-out with the security
forces on southern Mindanao island late on Sunday.

But Arroyo remained defiant: "I stand by the operational
report of the authorities on this case," she said.

Some opposition figures have alleged Indonesian Al-Ghozi was
killed to prevent him revealing police complicity in his
embarrassing escape from the national police headquarters jail in
Manila in July.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel said: "It looks like al-Ghozi and
others before him were silenced to prevent them from spilling the
beans on the authorities who made their escape possible."

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on
Tuesday said there was no independent confirmation of the death
of Al-Ghozi.

"We only have the information provided to us by the
Philippines," Downer told commercial radio. "We don't have any
independent way of verifying this information."