US/PHILIPPINES: US force in the Philippines prepares for the next phase in the war onterrorism, writes Miriam Donohoe in Mindanao
Gunmen on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao yesterday abducted a South Korean national and a Filipino hotel owner in the latest in a series of kidnappings.
News of the abductions came as the head of the US force on the island to prepare for the next phase in the war against terrorism admitted American troops could be killed or wounded in the campaign.
Between eight to 10 gunmen blocked a vehicle carrying the two kidnap victims on the border between Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat provinces about 500 miles from the capital Manila.
The abduction occurred on the same day as a kidnap gang freed a Filipina doctor who had been held in captivity in the central Mindanao region after her family paid an undisclosed amount of ransom.
Kidnap gangs have sown terror for the past few years on Mindanao and adjacent islands.
The Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, linked by the United States to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network, have been holding US missionary couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham, and a Filipina nurse hostage for more than eight months on Basilan island, off the Mindanao mainland.
The Abu Sayyaf this week demanded a ransom of $2 million for their release but the Philippine government has rejected the demand.
American troops will be involved in training Philippine soldiers to fight the guerillas on Basilan, representing the most significant expansion of the American campaign against terror after Afghanistan.
Yesterday aggreement was reached between the US and the Philippines as to the terms of reference on who will control the operation.
While details were not made public it is understood that while the Philippines will be "in control" American military chiefs will be "in command" of their men.
The head of the US forces in the southern Philippines, Brig Gen Donald Wurster, said yesterday he realised his men would be going into areas where they could come under enemy fire, but they had a job to do.
"You accept the risk of a dangerous situation to achieve a noble and worthwhile objective. We recognise that much," he said.
Although officially on a training mission, the US troops will be armed and allowed to fire in self-defence. Critics say it will inevitably lead to US soldiers getting involved in combat; 240 of an expected force of 660 troops have already arrived at a base in Zamboanga City in Mindanao.
Gen Wurster said the rescue of the Burnhams was the Philippines' responsibility but "if there's some ways we can help that are appropriate and according to our agreements for our presence here, we will provide that assistance to the Philippine military for them to succeed in that effort."
Meanwhile, the hostage couple wrote to relatives last week and told them they will not be freed unless their Muslim guerrilla captors are paid ransom.
"We feel that we really need to get out of here," missionary Ms Gracia Burnham said in a letter to her sister.
Her husband, Martin, wrote to his younger son Zachariah saying he wanted to be with him and saying he was praying God would still give us some more good times together.
The three-page letter was brought to Zamboanga by an intermediary to be handed over to the Burnhams' family.