Philippines, US to hold joint troop exercises

Manila, Jan 24: Thousands of Philippine and U S soldiers willhold joint exercises next month on the troubled southern island ofJolo, a bastion of one of Southeast Asia's deadliest Islamic militantgroups, officials said today.

U S forces routinely train and advise Philippine military units,build roads, schools and other humanitarian projects, as part ofefforts with Washington's closest ally in the region to defeat Muslimrebels and develop poor southern communities.

The large-scale annual exercises are usually held in army and navybases on the Luzon mainland to test the two militaries' securitypreparedness against external aggression.

''The focus of this year's Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder)military exercises would be in Sulu (province),'' said MatthewLussenhop, spokesman of the U S embassy in Manila.

''We'll be doing more humanitarian and civil affairs activities inthe area.'' There were no immediate details on the number of troops tobe involved in the exercises, but the United States typically deploysabout 5,000 soldiers each year.

This year's military exercises in Sulu, a string of islands thickwith jungle between the Mindanao mainland in the southern Philippinesand Sabah in eastern Malaysia, will begin on February 18 and run untilMarch 4.

About 7,000 Philippine soldiers have been on Sulu's main island ofJolo since August 1 to hunt for members of Abu Sayyaf, the smallest butmost violent group of Muslim rebels in the mainly Roman Catholiccountry.

Abu Sayyaf, suspected of close ties with al Qaeda and the regionalmilitant group Jemaah Islamiah, is blamed for the worst terror attackin the Philippines, killing more than 100 people in the bombing of apassenger ferry near Manila bay in February 2004.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the strongsecurity partnership between Manila and Washington was the key factorin her government's successes against the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyafgroup in the south.

''Our joint military training exercises with the United Statesconstitute a spearhead against the spread of terror in the region,''Arroyo said in a statement today.

Philippine security forces say close to 70 Abu Sayyaf rebels,including two top leaders -- Khaddafy Janjalani and Jainal Antel Sali,alias Abu Sulaiman -- had been killed in nearly 40 major clashes sinceAugust 1.

Reuters>