Building bridges in war-torn Philippine paradise

JOLO, Philippines, June 1 (Reuters) From the safety of a helicopter, the battlefield looks like paradise.

Hillsides are lush with coconut trees and aquamarine waters lap golden sandbars.

But the Philippine island of Jolo (pronounced ''ho-lo'') is a no-go area for sun-seeking tourists as one of the frontlines in the fight against Islamic extremists in Asia.

The remote island, around 950 km south of Manila, is the stronghold of Abu Sayyaf, a homegrown group of Muslim militants, and a training ground for members of al Qaeda's regional franchise, Jemaah Islamiah (JI), security sources say.

Alarmed by Southeast Asia's jihadists using Jolo and other parts of the restive Philippine south as bases, the United States has been sending trainers and advisers to help soldiers in its former colony since 2002.

''We want to change the dynamic on the island so it is no longer a sanctuary and a recruiting ground for terrorists,'' US Army Colonel Jim Linder, commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines, told Reuters.

The Philippine constitution bars foreign troops from going into combat. But at any one time, there are up to 300 US military personnel working with Filipinos on how to ensnare Abu Sayyaf and JI members.

Linder said a more important part of their mission was improving prospects for communities infiltrated by extremists.

Washington has paid for new schools, community centres and wells on Jolo and other parts of southern Philippines, where nearly 40 years of fighting between troops and Muslims seeking independence has killed more than 120,000 people.

''You can't just go in and shoot all the bad guys. That does not solve the problem,'' said Linder, who has led the joint task force since September. ''We are trying to plant the seeds of economic development, the seeds of prosperity.'' VENOMOUS Despite rich seams of minerals, plentiful seas and an abundance of tropical fruit, the southern region of Mindanao is one of the poorest in the country -- a fact that has fomented and aggravated violence on islands such as Jolo.

Mindanao's Muslims have resisted central rule for hundreds of years, arguing they have been ignored and discriminated against by Spanish and U.S. colonisers before a government in Manila steeped in the country's dominant Catholic faith.

But after a long, bloody conflict, the government is hopeful that informal talks with the largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, will lead to a peace deal this year.

A peace agreement with the secular separatist movement, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), was signed in 1996.

But Abu Sayyaf, the smallest and most venomous of the local Muslim rebel outfits, has no appetite for talks.

Formed in 1991 by ex-MNLF members, Abu Sayyaf was already infamous for kidnapping and beheading tourists and church workers before it carried out the country's worst terror attack, the bombing of a ferry in 2004 that killed more than 100 people.

It is this 400-strong group, with links to JI -- responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people -- that the United States and also Australia are interested in extinguishing.

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