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Photo adds to U.S. war games row

bank withdrawal
This photo of a U.S. personnel armed with a rifle while standing guard outside a bank has angered Philippine officials  


By Rufi Vigilar

MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- A photograph of gun-toting U.S. troops off-base and in civilian clothes has fueled the controversy surrounding the American military presence in the Philippines for joint exercises with local forces.

What type of role the U.S. troops will take in the war games -- designed to assist the Philippine military in its long-running campaign against Muslim guerillas in the country's south -- has been a hot topic of debate.

The military exercises, in the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Basilan, some 560 miles (900 km) south of Manila, are set to commence after both sides agreed to the contentious terms of reference (TOR) guiding the military exercises on Wednesday.

However, several opposition senators and other critics of the U.S. military involvement expressed outrage over the photograph, calling the conduct of American soldiers a show of arrogance.

They say the image -- which shows two American soldiers in civilian clothes brandishing rifles in front of a bank in southern Zamboanga City while fellow soldiers withdrew cash -- was also evidence of gray areas in the TOR.

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Under the guidelines, U.S. troops are allowed to use their firearms for their "right of self defense."

The wording of the TOR has been the subject of scrutiny by groups opposed to the war games because it defines the command relationship between U.S. and Philippine commanders and their troops.

Critics fear the TOR contains gray areas that would justify a U.S. combat rescue mission against Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who have held hostage two Americans and a Filipino nurse for the past eight months.

The Philippine Constitution bans combat operations by foreign troops in the Philippines unless sanctioned by a treaty.

Presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told CNN the Armed Forces and the defense department have yet to decide whether to seek an apology from U.S. officials over the photograph.

Change in procedure

TOR
Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona shows a copy of the signed 'Terms of Reference'  

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and Philippine Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr. held a teleconference on the TOR on Tuesday.

Guingona and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell were reportedly expected to sign the guidelines, but only the minutes of the teleconference were signed by U.S. embassy Charge d'Affaires Robert Fitts and the Philippine foreign affairs assistant secretary for American affairs, Minerva Falcon.

A draft of the TOR was signed last week by Philippine Armed Forces chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva and U.S. Pacific Command Rear Admiral William Sullivan.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Victoriano Lecaros downplayed the change in procedure, saying Fitts and Falcon had the "full authority" of their superiors.

How the minutes will bear on the TOR draft signed by the U.S. and Philippine military commanders is yet unclear.

Agreed terms

The Philippine government has asked the help of U.S. troops to eliminate the Abu Sayyaf, which the U.S. has linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network, and are based in the south of the country.

Under the agreed terms, Philippine and U.S. ground commanders will have control over their respective troops, with Philippine Armed Forces chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva having overall authority.

Both sides also agreed to waive all claims over injuries or deaths among their respective troops involved in the war games.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has repeatedly said U.S. troops would not participate in combat operations and has called her critics unpatriotic and "lovers of the bandit group Abu Sayyaf."

Regional concern

war games
Some fear the U.S. is planning to increase its military presence in Southeast Asia  

Critics are also wary the U.S. government may use the war games as a pretext to set up virtual military bases in the Philippines and to re-establish its military presence in Southeast Asia amid suspected ties between al Qaeda and extremist religious groups in neighboring Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

A confessed member of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiya was arrested last month in the southern Philippines, after more than a dozen terrorist suspects linked to him were arrested in Singapore only days earlier.

The Singapore arrests aborted an alleged plot to bomb U.S. and other Western installations in the island state.

Some 160 of more than 600 U.S. troops are expected to go to Basilan and take part in the war games expected to last until June.



 
 
 
 





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