U.S. to help crackdown Abu Sayyaf

U.S. to help crackdown Abu Sayyaf

PHILIPPINES: The United States is sending military officers to the Philippines to train and equip local troops in the war against guerrillas linked to Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, a top Manila official said on Wednesday.

But the U.S. officers, to be led by an army general and numbering more than two dozen, will not take part in the fighting against the guerrillas holding two Americans and 16 Filipinos in the southern Philippines, national security adviser Roilo Golez told reporters.

Golez ruled out any direct involvement of U.S. forces in Manila's campaign to subdue the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, saying the stationing of foreign troops in the country was prohibited by the Philippine constitution.

Golez made the statement in reaction to what he said were U.S. media reports that extremists tied to the Saudi-born bin Laden and based in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia were among likely targets of future U.S. military action. --Reuters