Standoff over US troops in Philippines

Proposed Filipino 'terms of reference' standoff over US troops



The US and the Philippines are still locked in a standoff over proposed "terms of reference" which will put US troops under Filipino control during joint exercises in the next phase in the war against terrorism. Miriam Donohoe reports from the Philippines

The Philippine government said yesterday it was insisting that the 660 US who have started to arrive in Zamboanga, in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, to train local soldiers should by under Filipino commanders.

The local soldiers are to be trained to fight the Abu Sayyaf group, which has links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. However, a senior US military chief in Zamboanga has told The Irish Times that while the Philippines will be "in charge" of operations, high-ranking US army personnel will be "in command" of their troops. "There is a difference," he said.

The Filipino presidential spokesman, Mr Rigoberto Tiglao, said it was a "legal question" for the US soldiers, who are under oath to recognise only US authority. However, he added that "statements may be formulated" from a cabinet committee's review of the rules.

The formal launch of the joint exercises was delayed last week when the US objected to putting US forces under Filipino commanders.

The launch went ahead last Thursday, with the "terms of reference" on the conduct of the exercises still awaiting formal approval by the Filipino President, Mrs Gloria Arroyo, who was on a visit to Canada and New York.

Meanwhile, the Filipino Supreme Court yesterday ordered the government to justify the presence of the US troops in the country.

The directive means that the issue of whether US soldiers can play a role in combating terrorism in this former US colony could now be decided in court.

The court gave the presidential palace and the Department of Defence 10 days to answer a petition by two lawyers questioning the legality of Mrs Array's decision to allow the US troops into the country.

The lawyers say the US military presence violates a provision in the Filipino constitution barring foreign combat troops from the country except under a formal treaty.

They say the government could not invoke Manila's mutual defence treaty with Washington as the pact applied only to external aggression, while the Abu Sayyaf was a domestic peace and order problem.

The Supreme Court can either throw out the petition after hearing the government side in 10 days or call a hearing to listen to both arguments before ruling.

Yesterday Abu Sayyaf rebels were reported to be insisting on a ransom of $2 million for the freedom of the two US missionaries who have been held in a jungle on Basilan island for eight months.

A local television network said the Abu Sayyaf guerrilas demanded the ransom in letters written in January. However a spokesman for the government reiterated yesterday that it would not pay.

Mrs Arroyo returned from a tour of Britain, Canada and the US yesterday, saying she had procured $1.2 billion of overseas investments.