U.S. troops begin Philippines pull-out

Not everyone has welcomed the presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines -- U.S. troops stationed in the Philippines since February will begin pulling out later this week after wrapping up a six-month training program to help combat terrorism in the southeast Asian nation.

U.S. military officials said the almost 1,300 troops -- made up of Special Forces trainers and military engineers -- will begin their month-long pullout on Thursday after a closing ceremony at the U.S.-Philippine operations headquarters on the southern island of Zamboanga.

A small force of U.S. military liaison officers will remain at the headquarters to help with future counter-terrorism training exercises, expected to begin later his year.

The pull-out begins just ahead of the arrival in the Philippines of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is on a goodwill tour of six southeast Asian nations in a bid to shore up support for the war on terrorism.

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Powell will be welcomed by the Philippines' new, pro-American, foreign affairs secretary, Blas Ople, who officially assumes his post Tuesday.

The U.S. statesman is scheduled to meet President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Saturday for talks expected to focus on continuing the global war on terrorism.

The U.S. troops in the Philippines represents America's biggest deployment in its war against terrorism, after Aghanistan.

Southeast Asia is considered to be the "second front" in the war with al Qaeda cells suspected of operating in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Since early February, U.S. soldiers have been training Philippine troops in marksmanship, small-unit leadership, special operations, intelligence, communications and survival techniques for use in the fight the Muslim separatist group Abu Sayyaf, which is believed to have links with al Qaeda.

But the troops have not been universally welcomed by Filipinos, many of whom resent the military presence of their former colonial master.

Apart from the anti-terrorism training, thousands of U.S. troops also arrived in February this year for war games with the Philippines military, further fueling anti-U.S. sentiment.

American military bases were dismantled in the Philippines in the early 1990s.

Protests

Powell is expected to be greeted with anti-U.S. rallies following accusations an American soldier was involved in the shooting of a suspected Muslim extremist late last week.(Full story)

The U.S. embassy has denied the claim saying the American soldier was a medic treating the victim after he was wounded in a raid on a suspected Abu Sayyaf house by Philippine troops.

A shooting by an American might violate the terms of the anti-terrorism exercise, which prohibit U.S. troops from firing except in self-defense.

The shooting incident occurred last week as soldiers raided the house of a suspected Abu Sayyaf operative on southern Basilan island.

Philippine officials said Boyongboyong Isnijal was wounded as he tried to grab a soldier's rifle.

But according to the Associated Press, Isnijal's wife Juraida claimed an American soldier shot her husband.

Milestones

Future training programs will focus more on the classroom and less on the field

Before the training program began, the U.S. and Philippine governments agreed to limit the time the U.S. troops would be based in the Philippines, deciding on a July 31 date to end the training exercise, named Balikatan.

Future training programs with U.S soldiers will have a decidedly different look as they will be limited to only classroom training.

The six-month exercise was marked with a number of milestones and tragedies for both sides.

In the first month a U.S. Special Forces helicopter crashed off the coast of Zamboanga, killing all 10 U.S. passengers and crew aboard.

The U.S.-trained troops found two American hostages being held by Abu Sayyaf, though the ensuing firefight killed one of them and a Philippine nurse also held by the group.

The largest success was a nighttime raid by Philippine troops on a group of Abu Sayyaf members. One of the terrorist groups' leaders is thought to have killed in that fight.

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