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Philippines Rules Out US Troops in Hostage Rescue
The Philippine military will do it alone in any operation to rescue the 20 hostages held captive by Abu Sayyaf terrorists, ruling out any involvement of US troops, a military spokesman said Thursday.
"The Philippine government considers this problem as internal and any ground operation will come from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)," military spokesman Edilberto Adan told a press conference Thursday morning.
Adan made this categorical assurance to disperse speculation that American troops might join Filipino soldiers to rescue the hostages, among whom there are three U.S. nationals.
"Any assistance is of course welcome but only in the form of information gathering," he said.
The spokesman said the AFP is conscious about the need for congressional approval in cases when foreign troops would be deployed in the country.
According to Adan, Philippine navy ships and gunboats have been patrolling the Sulu Sea, particularly in the vicinity of the island of Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi where the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers and the hostages are believed to be hold up.
The 20 hostages were abducted in Dos Palmas, a beach resort in the southwestern province of Palawan, last Sunday.
There are reports that the hostages were split in two groups but this has to be checked, Adan said.
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