US Military Invited to Joint Exercises in Abu Sayyaf lair

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 11, 2002

US Military Invited to Joint Exercises in Abu Sayyaf lair

The Armed Forces of the Philippineshas asked the US Pacific Command to join Philippine troops in conducting counter-terrorist exercises in Sulu province.

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The Armed Forces of the Philippineshas asked the US Pacific Command to join Philippine troops in conducting counter-terrorist exercises in Sulu province.

Philippine military chief General Roy Cimatu said he has written a letter to Admire Thomas Fargo, commander-in-chief of theUS Pacific Command, recommending that the southern province of Sulu be the site of the next Balikatan exercises that would again use Abu Sayyaf rebels as live targets.

The ongoing exercise coded Balikatan 02-1 is scheduled to end on July 31, but a set of small-scale exercises are expected to be conducted in Zamboanga province in the south and Nueva Ecija province in the north shortly after July 31. The next formal exercise will start in October.

Cimatu said his recommendation is being discussed at the "higher levels" of both sides. Most likely, he said, another Terms of Reference will be drafted once the recommendation is approved.

In an other development, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo saidon Wednesday the operations in Sulu province will be a component in the next joint military exercise, and it is an idea from the USside. Sulu, especially its main body Jolo island, is a known lair of the largest units of the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

Arroyo also said that some of the sophisticated equipment, especially that for night-flying, used by the US soldiers in the Philippine-US joint military exercises will be left behind when the exercise ends.

However, Brigade General Donald Wurster, commander of the US contingent participating in the ongoing joint exercise, said earlier that their Filipino counterparts should thoroughly assess the situation in Sulu, and if the US solders were to be deployed there, their safety should be guaranteed.

Although the six-month Balikatan will officially wind up in twoweeks, over 400 US military engineers and security troops will stay in Basilan and Zamboanga to complete several infrastructure projects. Currently, there are about 1,000 US troops dispatched tothe southern Philippines.

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