U.S. and RP say they remain antiterror allies
U.S. and RP say they remain antiterror allies
Agence France-Presse, Manila
The United States and the Philippines insisted on Friday that
they remained allies against global terrorism after quarreling
over Manila's military pullout from Iraq under pressure from
kidnappers there.
Washington and 31 allies which maintain troops in Iraq
declared this week that they had adopted a tough common policy of
unequivocally rejecting terrorism and refusing to bow to any
demands made by kidnappers.
This is widely seen here as amounting to a declaration that
the Philippines is no longer a part of the coalition.
The U.S. embassy here said that while Washington was
"disappointed" by the Filipino pullout last month, "we are
continuing to cooperate in a variety of ways in the global war
against terrorism.
"The Philippines remains an ally -- one with whom we have a
long-standing shared history and many common interests including
defeating terrorism in the region," the statement added.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Delia Albert said in a statement
that her office has made consultations with the U.S. embassy here
over the latest U.S. declaration.
The mission clarified that it "was not intended to mean that
the countries that supported the principles and objectives of the
coalition and who contribute to the rebuilding of Iraq but who
have no troops in Iraq are no longer considered as part of the
coalition," Albert said.
Earlier on Friday, President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio
Bunye said Manila "will continue to carry out our campaign
against terrorism."
He reiterated that Arroyo had "no apologies" for her decision
last month to pull out the 51-man Philippine military contingent
from Iraq as demanded by a group of Iraqi militants holding
Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz hostage.
"If this is the price to pay for being a Filipino and for
leading the Filipino nation, so be it," Bunye said in a
statement.
"There are other, perhaps more meaningful ways to sustain and
strengthen our strategic relationship with the United States,"
Bunye said, adding that the two close allies would always work
together in "propelling the common commitment to fight terrorism
domestically, regionally and worldwide."