Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, July 29, 2002
Arroyo Orders Probe into US Soldier Shooting in Southern Philippines
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered on Sunday the probe into a case wherein a US soldier allegedly shot and wounded a Filipino suspected to be member of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group in the southern Philippines.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered on Sunday the probe into a case wherein aUS soldier allegedly shot and wounded a Filipino suspected to be member of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group in the southern Philippines.
Arroyo said the Department of National Defense would look into the accusation of House Representative Satur Ocampo that a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf group was shot in the leg by the U.S. soldier during a raid around midnight Thursday in Tuburantown, Basilan island in the south, the ABS-CBN on-line news reported.
However, both US and Philippine militaries denied the allegation, and the latter even said the accused US soldier actually provided first aid to the suspect wounded while trying tosnatch the gun of a Filipino soldier who was arresting him.
"The burden of proof is on the accuser," Arroyo told reporters,adding that Ocampo's group should also look into atrocities committed by the Abu Sayyaf bandits against civilians.
The presidential palace committed another blunder on Sunday when it called for a press conference regarding the arrest of an Abu Sayyaf leader, Hadji Yusuf Ibrahim. But it was canceled later because the military operations were belated.
Arroyo declared last week that Faisal Marohomsar, boss of the kidnap-for-ransom group "Pentagon," had surrendered, but she retracted her announcement several hours later.