Protest greets US troops training in Philippines
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-17 14:05

Protesters chanted anti-American slogans outside a Philippine army camp on Tuesday as 30 elite U.S. soldiers began counter-terrorism drills with local troops in the heartland of the largest Muslim rebel group.

The United States, Manila's closest security ally, has been a major source of military assistance for the poorly funded Philippine armed forces in the form of training and hardware such as assault rifles, radio sets and body armour.

Outside the camp in Carmen town on Mindanao island, anti-riot police backed by soldiers and a fire truck blocked a 35-vehicle convoy of about 5,000 protesters demanding that U.S. troops leave Muslim areas in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.

"These training activities were designed to enhance skills and capabilities of Filipino soldiers," Colonel Ruperto Pabustan, a brigade commander, told a news conference after the opening ceremonies for the month-long exercises.

Arrangements had been made with the ceasefire panel of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to avoid any conflict with the Muslim separatist rebels, he added.

Pabustan said about 260 Philippine soldiers, assigned to fight communist guerrillas in the Davao area of Mindanao, were taking part in the training, which will focus on marksmanship, combat lifesaving and small-unit tactics.

Major William Nagel, commander of the U.S. commandos, said his soldiers had seen action in Afghanistan and Iraq before helping to train soldiers from more than 25 allied countries.

"I don't see any problem on the safety of my troops as long as they (protesters) don't interfere in our exercises," Nagel told reporters.

MUSLIM SOIL

The convoy of protesters, denouncing the training as a form of intervention in Philippine affairs, went through nine police and army checkpoints but were stopped outside the army camp.

They chanted "U.S. imperialist, number one terrorist" and other slogans, sang revolutionary songs and waved placards before police allowed them to hold a rally at the town's public park.

"We don't want U.S. troops on Muslim soil," said Zaynab Ampatuan, one of the protest organisers.

"There are no terrorists in our communities. We fear an increase in human rights violations as more U.S. troops are expected to arrive in Mindanao in the guise of non-combat missions."

Philippine army officials said the U.S. troops would be confined to the training camp to avoid any possible controversy similar to a rape case in the northern part of the country.

Four U.S. Marines, who had taken part in other exercises in October, have been charged with raping a 22-year-old Filipino woman in a van at a former U.S. Navy base northwest of Manila.

Pabustan said the U.S. troops now training in Mindanao were expected to visit two villages, including a farming community of former Muslim rebels, to provide medical, dental and veterinary services as part of the programme's humanitarian mission.

A truce with the MILF has been holding since July 2003 and Malaysian-brokered talks to end the conflict are due to resume this month in Kuala Lumpur.

The insurgency by the 12,000-member MILF has killed more than 120,000 people since the late 1960s and stunted development of resource-rich Mindanao.