Texts: The Peninsula Qatar

July 29, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo reiterates pledge to crush Abu Sayyaf rebels,
August 5, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf rebels behead four more hostages,
August 6, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops rescue 13 Filipino hostages,
August 8, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines~ Milf rebels reach truce deal,
August 8, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops closing in on Sayyaf guerrillas,
August 9, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf rebels will be crushed by November: army,
August 9, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo welcomes ceasefire pact with Milf guerrillas,
August 13, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Christians to shun Muslim autonomy vote in Philippines,
August 15, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Gunmen demand $10m for Chinese captives,
August 19, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Kidnapping problem to be solved this year: Manila,
August 25, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo pledges crackdown on kidnappers,
August 25, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Officer narrates army debacle,
August 26, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, General denies collusion with Sayyaf rebels,
August 26, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Briefs: Philippines/World,
August 27, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Army selling weapons to Sayyaf: Milf,
August 29, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Governor is aiding Sayyaf~ say witnesses,
August 29, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, 15 Filipinos die as army, rebels clash,
August 30, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf shipping arms to Indonesian rebels: Manila,
September 1, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Detained Sayyaf leader sent back to Manila,
September 1, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila to pay $5~000 to slain hostages' kin,
December 4, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, US hostage chained to gunman~ says army,
December 5, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Hussin vows to curb rebellion; four Misuari supporters killed,
December 6, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, OIC to hold talks on MNLF leadership,
December 6, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Hussin opposes US role in rebel fight,
December 8, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops kill 11 Sayyaf men; US team arrives,
December 9, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, US team monitors troops training,
December 10, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Malaysian cops clear Misuari of abduction,
December 10, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, US troops offer to help rescue hostages,
December 11, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila to take back Misuari next month,

January 2, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Tiahrt seeks role for US troops in rescue bid,
January 3, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US lawmaker satisfied with rescue efforts,
January 8, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, America encourages proxy wars on terror,
January 8, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US team to enter Sayyaf hideout,
January 10, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Over 100 US troops expected in Zamboanga,
January 12, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf men kill three in Basilan attack,
January 14, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops raid Sayyaf hideout,
January 15, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops kill two Milf rebels~ capture one,
January 16, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US troops join drive to crush Sayyaf men,
January 17, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo defends deployment of US troops,
January 19, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Govt backtracks on role of US troops,
January 19, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Muslim leaders warn of full-scale war,
January 20, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US hostages sighted near Basilan: Army,
January 21, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Protests greet Arroyo on govt anniversary,
January 22, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Southeast Asia might be next terror haven: Philippine official
January 23, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Deal on logistics support on anvil
January 23, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Resort hit by kidnaps to reopen in March
January 23, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo deputy may quit over US troops
January 24, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Eight rebels killed as Sayyaf~ troops clash
January 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine island of Basilan masks violence with natural beauty
January 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Several rebels killed in fresh fighting
January 27, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Two 'Pentagon' men killed in kidnap bid
January 28, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Filipinos cheer US troops, want to see kidnap gang wiped out
January 28, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US soldiers to patrol rebel-infested region
January 29, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo seeks British help to fight terror
January 29, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Burnham sister pleads for couple’s release
January 30, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Joint manoeuvres to start tomorrow
January 30, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Crashed robotic plane found off Mindanao
January 30, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Israeli tourist killed in Philippine resort
January 31, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Bush’s statement on anti-terror war 'disturbs' Philippine senators,
January 31, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, American feared dead in ambush,
February 2, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila ups security for US citizens,
February 3, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Communist rebels threaten US troops,
February 4, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, More US troops to join exercises,
February 5, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Milf warned against attacks on US troops,
February 6, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Court intervenes in row over US troops,
February 7, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US troops prepared for risks: General,
February 9, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Five killed as gunmen ambush army patrol,
February 10, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Foreign scribes face kidnap threat: Army,
February 11, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Korean's abductors seek halt to pursuit,
February 11, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops bombard Abu Sayyaf lair,
February 12, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US risks attack from regrouping rebels,
February 13, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Air strikes kill 10 Sayyaf rebels,
February 14, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine~ US sign pact to crush rebels,
February 16, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US soldiers move into Sayyaf bastion,
February 17, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US military reiterates resolve to fight terror,
February 17, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Five killed~ 48 hurt as blasts rock Philippines,
February 18, 2002 The Peninsula Qatar, Green Berets carry 'Liberate the Oppressed' battle cry to rebel...,
February 18, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US 'trainer' soldiers deployed on Basilan,
February 19, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US forces to mount night air patrols,
February 20, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Air force copters hit Abu Sayyaf targets,
February 21, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops capture five Sayyaf gunmen,
February 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Master sergeant bids farewell to the fallen comrades with roses...,
February 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, No survivors from fallen chopper: US,
February 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Asean~ EU experts discuss waging war against 'sea terrorism',
February 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US investigators expected today,
February 27, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops clash with Sayyaf gunmen
February 28, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US flies in copters and investigators,
March 2, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila to hold spy chiefs’ summit,
April 1, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US spy plane crashes off Zamboanga,
May 1, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Police kill four Sayyaf guerrillas in clash,
June 1, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Top Sayyaf rebel nabbed on Basilan,
June 1, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US bounty offer opens floodgates of clues on Sayyaf,
June 3, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US~ Philippines moot anti-terror tactics,
June 3, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo urged to extend US presence on Basilan,
June 4, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US troops to move ahead in manhunt,
June 8, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US missionary killed in botched rescue bid,
August 1, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Anti-terror drive a success: US,
August 3, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Powell to hold talks with Arroyo,
August 4, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Powell hails Philippines’ anti-terror efforts,
August 5, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops capture seven Sayyaf militants,
August 7, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US set to resume anti-Sayyaf drive,
August 8, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Leftists declare war against Arroyo govt,
August 12, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Seven injured in clash with Sayyaf militants,
August 12, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Blacklisting of Marxists not to effect talks plan,
August 14, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines~ US agree to coordinate military policy~ says Pentagon,
August 18, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo says people have faith in campaign against terror,
August 21, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Abu Sayyaf still dangerous~ says military,
August 22, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf rebels kidnap six Filipinos,
August 24, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Army chief takes charge of campaign against kidnapping,
August 24, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops shell Sayyaf lair; give ultimatum,
August 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Government steps up security in Jolo,
August 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, 20 killed in Philippine bus crash,
August 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Kidnappers demand military pullout,
August 27, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Ultimatum to Sayyaf rebels ends today,
August 28, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops hunt for kidnappers; one militant killed in clashes,
August 29, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, No more talks with kidnappers: Arroyo,
August 31, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Rebel killed as hostage crisis continues,
September 5, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Military launches ‘end game’ against militants,
September 8, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines on red alert for possible 9/11 attacks,
September 10, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Security beefed up at railways~ ports in Manila,
September 10, 2002, Peninsula Qatar, More blood will flow in fight against rebels~ says Philippine army,
September 10, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines ready to support US: Officials,
September 11, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Quran recital competition,
September 14, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops kill 17 rebels,
September 15, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila not to back Iraq attack without UN nod,
September 16, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Ransom demand for Philippine teachers,
September 21, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Hussin urges ARMM people to change ways,
September 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila set to bomb new rebel camps,
September 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Chinese minister set for Manila talks,
September 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo battling to reverse dropping popularity: Spokesman,


February 4, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila tightens borders to ward off militants,
February 23 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Abu Sayyaf stages fresh attacks,
February 28, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Abu Sayyaf men get life for kidnapping American,
March 1, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Abu Sayyaf claims responsibility for ferry blaze,
March 1, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, News in Brief: Muslim charities irked at US bias,
March 2, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, US to extend military training in Philippines,
March 2, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Military rejects Sayyaf claim on ferry blaze,
March 3, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Fate of missing ferry passengers remains mystery,
March 3, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine rebels kill five~ abduct two,
March 4, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Two more bodies retrieved from burnt Philippine ferry,
March 6, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, US rewards Filipino behind rebel’s arrest,
March 6, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, 118 still missing after Philippine ferry blaze,
March 8, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops kill five Abu Sayyaf guerrillas,
March 9, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine ferry fire toll at 22; 112 still missing,
March 15, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Solution of rebellions within reach: Arroyo,
March 21, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops capture four Abu Sayyaf kidnappers,
March 23, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines to set up anti-terror task force,
March 27, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Police raid suspected bomber’s lair,
March 28, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila boosts security after power plant attack,
March 31, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines foils Madrid-type attack,
April 1, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo exaggerating terror threat~ says Opposition,
June 1, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines arrests militant~ finds bombs,
June 2, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Blast in southern Philippines; seven hurt,
June 5, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Arrested man reveals Qaeda links to Milf,
June 23, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila resumes peace talks with communists,
June 26, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila~ communists fail to make peace,
June 28, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, US worried about militants hiding in the Philippines,
July 6, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, US to train Philippine troops,
July 6, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Two senior Abu Sayyaf leaders held,
July 22, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines readies welcome for freed hostage,
July 31, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Ex-US hostage urges Manila to ‘do what is right’ in terror fight,
August 1, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Abu Sayyaf man~ who kidnapped American~ held,
August 2, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Two Abu Sayyaf guerrillas gunned down,
September 9, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Ninety Milf rebels surrender ahead of talks,
September 23, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila defends its record in anti-terror fight,
October 26, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, US gives $1m to Philippine informers,
November 15, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Radio journalist shot at in Philippines,
November 21, 2004, The Peninsula Qatar, Air raid on Sayyaf-JI camp; 10 killed,

February 11, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, US troops land in Philippine isle; police officer killed,
May 3, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila says raid foiled bomb plot,
May 9, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine police break up jail riot~ 11 hurt,
May 12, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Qaeda linked gunmen kidnap Filipina,
May 15, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila pledges to flush out Sayyaf rebels from hideouts,
May 19, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines silences guns for OIC visit,
July 4, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Two soldiers killed in Jolo attack,
July 29, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Two kidnapped in southern Philippines,
August 2, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine army bombs Muslim rebel hideout,
August 4, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Hundreds flee fighting in South Philippines,
August 6, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops seize rebel camp in south,
August 10, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Five Abu Sayyaf gunmen detained,
August 11, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Kidnap gang behind blasts: Philippines,
September 2, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines steps up hunt for Bali bombers,
September 5, 2006, The Peninsula Qatar, 14 dead~ 77 wounded in Jolo fighting,

January 4, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines seeks six attack helicopters,
January 4, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops kill six rebels,
January 8, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, JI member among six slain in Philippines,
January 9, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo insists security in place,
January 11, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Soldiers 'kill' Abu Sayyaf militant,
January 11, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Bombs explode in Philippines; kill six,
January 18, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines claims Abu Sayyaf leader slain,
January 19, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine army kills 10 Abu Sayyaf men,
January 20, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila sends more troops to counter Abu Sayyaf militants,
January 21, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Abu Sayyaf chief dead: Philippines,
January 21, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, DNA tests confirm death of Janjalani,
January 22, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, US support crucial in fighting Sayyaf,
January 22, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Soldier killed as Manila raises alert,
January 23, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Slain militant had no link with Al Qaeda: Report,
January 24, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Abu Sayyaf broken but not defeated: Analysts,
January 25, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila to disarm private armies,
January 26, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila seizes communist weaponry depot,
January 31, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, US offers $50~000 for capture of bomber,
February 4, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, MNLF likely to free captives today,
February 6, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Muslim rebels 'must' disarm~insists Manila,
February 7, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Communists main threat in Philippines: Military chief,
February 13, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Hundreds flee clashes on Mindanao; Two killed on Jolo,
February 16, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila wants to finish off Sayyaf this year,
February 18, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, US asks Milf to help hunt members of terror group,
February 19, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine leftists brand Sayyaf film plan as US propaganda,
February 20, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine-US war games focus on maritime threats,
February 21, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops kill two Abu Sayyaf members on Jolo,
February 21, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, UN team grills Philippine lawmakers on rebel ties,
February 27, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila tightens security for US forces,
February 27, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Eight dead as troops clash with militants on Jolo,
February 28, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila to spend $30m to get troops battle ready,
March 1, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila claims killing Abu Sayyaf leader,
March 4, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Four Abu Sayyaf gunmen killed on Jolo,
March 5, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Anti-US sentiments waning in Philippines,
March 17, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, US probe into extra-judicial killings biased~ says Manila,
March 17, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Four Lankan troops killed in clashes with Tigers,
March 28, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, US posts reward for Abu Sayyaf terror suspect,
April 2, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila changes tactics against militants,
April 8, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Three gunmen killed in Philippines,
April 9, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Nine Philippine soldiers~civilian killed in rebel attack,
April 10, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Bali suspects escape raid in Philippines,
April 13, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Two soldiers killed in battle against Abu Sayyaf,
April 15, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Rebels attack Philippine marine base; 3 killed,
April 16, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine marines kill eight rebels,
April 18, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Battle spreads in southern Philippines,
April 20, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Rebels behead seven captives in Philippines,
April 21, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Terrorists won’t go unpunished~ says Arroyo,
April 22, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, US~ Australia warn of fresh terror attacks in Philippines,
April 26, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Bomb material seized in Jolo,
April 26, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops attack rebel camp,
April 27, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines seizes rebel camp in south,
April 28, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Four killed in election violence in Philippines,
May 9, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Four militants killed on Jolo,
May 9, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Bombing kills four people in Philippines,
May 10, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila tightens security after bombing,
May 12, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Suspect in Bali bombing eludes capture,
May 16, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Bali bomber escapes Jolo blockade,
May 18, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila mall bomb plotters surrender,
May 19, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine bus terminal blast kills three~ wounds 35,
May 25, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine forces kill two rebels in raid,
May 25, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, US warships head for Philippines,
May 25, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine forces kill two rebels in raid
June 2, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Australia security pact will make region safer: Arroyo
June 4, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Development part of fight against terror~ says Philippines
July 4, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo vows stability in three years
July 11, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Rebels kill three Filipino marines
July 12, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar,Militants kill 14 Philippine marines
July 12, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Italian priest risked his life for mission in Philippines
July 13, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila hunts militants who ambushed marines
July 18, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila invites Malaysian monitors to rebel island
July 21, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Abducted Italian priest released
July 21, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Thin and tired~ missionary tells of long ordeal
July 21, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Jailbreak in Philippines; 16 inmates escape
July 22, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Freed priest to keep up missionary work
July 23, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine rebels brace for war
August 5, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, US experts join bus blast probe
August 9, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila’s new defence chief talks peace
August 10, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Moro rebels kill 20 soldiers in south
August 11, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines rushes troops to south
August 12, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Locals flee as fighting looms in Philippines
August 13, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Top Philippine military brass tour rebel island
August 14, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops raid Muslim rebels
August 14, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Freed priest names Abu Sayyaf rebels as abductors
August 15, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines to resume talks with rebels next week
August 17, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Bali suspect wounded in Jolo clashes
August 18, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Video shows Abu Sayyaf in disarray
November 14, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Filipino congressman killed in bomb blast
November 15, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Muslim legislator was bomb target
November 17, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Police kill three~ arrest suspects in Philippine Congress blast
November 18, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine Congress blast accused face murder charges
November 20, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Three face murder charges in Manila bomb investigation
December 1, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, 20 dead in Jolo clashes
December 4, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila charges 37 for coup bid
December 7, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, 14 militants jailed for mass abduction
December 12, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Militant held in Philippines
December 14, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Blast rocks Philippine poll official’s home
December 15, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Army pushes for tough laws in Philippines
December 20, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine police foil Christmas bomb attack plot
December 20, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Clashes in Basilan kill six militants
December 23, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine marine~ rebels killed in clash
December 23, 2007, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine journalist shot; blast hurts three

January 5, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Two militants linked to Al Qaeda nabbed in Philippines
January 8, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Rebel numbers sharply down: Manila
January 17, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine priest killed in kidnap bid
January 18, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Italian priests to stay in Philippines despite threats
January 22, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Abu Sayyaf militant held in Philippines
January 29, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine army fights to improve credibility
January 31, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, 4 killed~ 30 injured in Philippine bomb blast
February 1, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Bali bomb suspect gives Philippine army the slip
February 2, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Fugitive Bali bomber suspect escapes raid
February 5, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Five killed as soldiers~ rebels clash in Jolo
February 6, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Military probes killing of 7 civilians
February 7, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Two killed in attack on Philippine gold mine
February 10, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Soldiers suspended over Jolo deaths
February 11, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Uneasy peace reigns in Jolo
February 15, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Qaeda-linked plot to kill Arroyo uncovered
February 20, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Remains of Bali bombing suspect found
February 28, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops cleared of killing civilians
March 7, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Three arrested for Philippine terror plot
March 7, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Fake DVDs fund Philippine rebels
March 25, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine militant group using drug money: Official
March 28, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf rebels free abducted school principal
March 28, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, FBI training soldiers in Jolo
April 1, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Afghan woman seeks justice against thugs who killed her son
April 10, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Abu Sayyaf abducts six in Philippines
May 1, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine army seizes militant base
May 2, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf leader injured~ son killed
May 15, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Experts press for Moro deal
May 21, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines warns of mercenary bombers
May 22, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf may be behind film piracy: Philippines
May 26, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Fighting erupts in S Philippines; two killed
May 27, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Fresh Marine Forces arrive in Mindanao
June 14, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Release of kidnapped TV star sought after one freed
June 15, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Ransom hopes attract recruits to Abu Sayyaf.
June 17, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Kidnappers threaten to harm hostages
June 18, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Rebel group in danger of splintering
June 18, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Filipina TV presenter~ cameraman freed
June 19, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Betrayal led to abduction: TV presenter
June 20, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Threats from Abu Sayyaf wane: Report
June 20, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Jolo mayor~ son held in TV crew kidnapping
June 21, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Jolo Mayor pocketed 3m pesos
June 26, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Southeast Asian terror groups pose threat
June 27, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine militants scattered~ leaderless
June 28, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Communist rebel killed in Philippines
June 29, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Rallies call for resumption of talks with Moro rebels
August 11, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Military shells Moro rebels in Cotabato
August 16, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Aide to Abu Sayyaf chief arrested
September 18, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine rebels attack army post
September 11, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine marines rescue 2 kidnapped children
October 9, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, US law to curb use of Philippine child soldiers
October 12, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Five killed in Philippine clashes
October 13, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines arrests suspected kidnapper
October 17, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo’s Asia crisis fund confusion deepens,
October 17, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila offers to train guards for mines,
October 17, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Ten years later~ Asia is better prepared for financial crisis,
October 18, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Book delves into lives of Overseas Filipino Workers,
October 18, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Moro rebels raid south Philippine village~ kill one,
October 19, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Rebels abduct budget officer in Mindanao,
October 19, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Rich countries obligated to help poor nations in climate change,
October 19, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines confirms Chinese products are melamine free,
October 19, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Rebels abduct budget officer in Mindanao
October 20, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Filipinos draw power from buried heat,
October 20, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines lures communist rebels with cash for guns,
October 20, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Labour protocol,
October 21, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, More workers to take medical test at home,
October 21, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, English version of contract a relief for Filipino workers,
October 22, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Soldier killed in southern Philippine clash,
October 23, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Woods has not set return date,
October 23, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Filipino workers to earn more,
October 23, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila air force cuts flying time to save fuel,
October 24, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Sweden~ New Zealand cut interest rates to tackle financial crisis,
October 24, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine army open to truce with rebels,
October 24, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Lawmakers order arrest of ex-officer,
October 24, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Unmanned US plane crashes in Philippines,
October 24, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Plan to protect Coral Triangle being drawn up,
October 24, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Fit to work,
October 25, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Qatar get set for Thailand match,
October 25, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine oil firms urged to cut prices,
October 25, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Full-scale war in southern Philippines unlikely: Group,
October 25, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Confiscated artefacts may lead to lost Philippine tribe,
October 26, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, No minimum wage in protocol: Ministry,
October 29, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Child traffickers are active in Philippines: NGO,
October 30, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Crisis taking toll on world migrants: UN chief,
October 30, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila~ rebels to blame for abuses~ says Amnesty,
October 30, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Filipino workers heed call on remittance,
October 31, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Gunmen release aid worker held in southern Philippines,
October 31, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Gunmen release aid worker held in southern Philippines,
November 1, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Markets steady at month-end,
November 1, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Eking out a living from tin cans,
November 1, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Seven finalists for Filipino group’s music contest,
November 2, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, 19 rebels slain in fresh Philippine fighting,
November 4, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Attacks kill 14 in Philippines,
November 5, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, British official to meet Philippine Muslim rebels,
November 5, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, 39 people dead as ferry sinks in Philippines,
November 6, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine ferry accident toll 42,
November 6, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Filipino mechanical engineers forum to hold induction ceremony,
November 7, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Eight killed in Philippines as boat capsizes,
November 7, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Number of Mindanao Muslims on the rise,
November 7, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Pay up Pacquiao or lose title~ says Sulaiman,
November 7, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, APEC urges joint action to shore up markets,
November 7, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Southeast Asian countries sign aviation deals,
November 8, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Capsized boat sailed without clearance,
November 8, 2008, The Peninsula Qatar, Yuletide spirit beckons Filipino shoppers,

_________________________________________________________________________

July 29, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo reiterates pledge to crush Abu Sayyaf rebels,
Sunday, 12:41

MANILA: Philippine President Gloria Arroyo yesterday vowed to push through with an operation to crush the Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrilla group even as more sympathisers of the kidnapping band surrendered or were captured.

She made the threat as the latest Abu Sayyaf kidnapping crisis, involving 19 Filipinos and two Americans, entered its third month in the southern island of Basilan.

Brushing aside criticism of her mass arrests of alleged Abu Sayyaf sympathisers, Arroyo said: "This is war and if we wish to end the Abu Sayyaf problem, then we really have to act."

In an interview with ABS-CBN television, Arroyo defended the detention of over a hundred suspected Abu Sayyaf sympathisers this month, saying that halting the arrests would just prolong the problem.

"We really have to bite the bullet despite the accusations against us (and) fix this problem once and for all," she said.

Arroyo denied that they were arresting people without a warrant, saying that the arrests had been carried out in accordance with the law. She said the crackdown had had a positive effect, causing many of the Abu Sayyaf sympathisers to surrender and boosting the morale of the troops fighting the armed group in the southern islands.

More civilians were also turning in suspected Abu Sayyaf members, attracted by the hefty bounties that the government has put on their heads, Arroyo added.

Arroyo stressed that "the important thing is that the prosecution (of the Abu Sayyaf) will be quick", adding that she had also sent a top team of government prosecutors to the south to charge those arrested.

Earlier this month, Arroyo ordered a crackdown on the Abu Sayyaf, with the military empowered to arrest their sympathisers and supporters in their strongholds in the southern islands of Basilan and Jolo.

The crackdown came after a new Abu Sayyaf kidnapping spree that began on May 27 with the abduction of three Americans and 17 Filipinos from an upmarket resort.

The Abu Sayyaf hid their captives in the forested island of Basilan and seized even more captives. While they have freed some of their Filipino hostages, reportedly in exchange for hefty ransom payments, they also killed four Filipinos and boast of having beheaded one of the Americans.

Military sources involved in the search said they knew the general area where the Abu Sayyaf were holding the hostages but could not pinpoint them because of the presence of the rebels' "advance forces" guarding the group with the captives. The sources said that troops hunting the guerrillas were growing tired of the prolonged hunt.

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Thursday, August 2, Night raid on Lamitan, 35 "Christians" abducted from their homes, 10 of them beheaded.
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August 5, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf rebels behead four more hostages,
Sunday, 01:53

LAMITAN: Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas who seized more than a dozen hostages in this southern town have beheaded nine of their captives, local officials said yesterday.

Inocente Ramos, mayor of Lamitan town in the island of Basilan, said another four headless bodies were found yesterday in addition to five found on Friday.

Police and civilian volunteers took the bodies, all belonging to Filipino Christian males, to the Lamitan funeral parlour where hundreds of people showed up to try to identify the deceased. Even as the bodies were being placed in the funeral parlour, Abu Sayyaf gunmen began firing on houses on the outskirts of Lamitan until they were driven off by soldiers, military officers said.

Efren Natalaray, 49, whose 24-year-old son Elmer was among those beheaded, said they were both seized late on Thursday when about seven Abu Sayyaf gunmen surrounded a neighbour's house they were visiting.

He said the Abu Sayyaf forced them out, tied their hands behind their backs and made them to walk into the forests. In the darkness, he managed to escape to a coconut plantation but his eldest son remained in Abu Sayyaf hands. Natalaray, toting a rifle, wept only when his son's head was discovered some distance from his body.

The Abu Sayyaf seized as many as 34 captives from this largely-Christian town, a frequent target of their attacks.

Beside one of the bodies was a T-shirt with the message: "Commander Robot. I am the one who ordered this," referring to the pseudonym of Ghalib Andang, an Abu Sayyaf commander from the nearby island of Jolo. The armed band in Basilan is also holding two Americans and 19 Filipinos who were kidnapped in a spree of abductions that began in May.

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August 6, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops rescue 13 Filipino hostages,
Monday, 02:17

ISABELA: Philippine troops rescued 13 Filipino hostages, mostly children, during a gunbattle with Muslim guerrillas yesterday but 21 other captives, including a US missionary couple, remained in rebel hands.

The fighting on the southern island Basilan erupted after the fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf gunmen beheaded 10 other Filipinos whom they abducted on Thursday from the Basilan town of Lamitan, military officials said.

Among those rescued were seven children, aged 9 to 12. Some of them recounted to reporters how the guerrillas killed with machetes another hostage who had tried to fight back. "He asked them to loosen the tie around his hands because he wanted to eat ... then he fought back and tried to grab their guns so he was shot and hacked to death," nine-year-old Harold Hosain said, referring to one of the executed hostages.

The rescued 13 and the 10 who were beheaded were among 36 villagers seized by the guerrillas during Thursday's raid.

Thirteen other hostages in the group either escaped earlier or were freed. One of those released on Friday was a young mother who was allegedly raped by two of her abductors in front of her child, the Manila Standard newspaper said. "These Abu Sayyaf are bandits from their toenails up to their hair. They are no longer human beings. They are dogs," Basilan's Muslim provincial governor Wahab Akbar told local radio dzRH, denouncing the beheadings.

The 13 were abandoned by the rebels on a highway near the capital town of Isabela during a gunbattle at around 1730 GMT on Saturday, southern military commander Lieutenant-General Gregorio Camiling said.

The hostages said their captors made them walk through mountainous jungles for three days and nights.

Hermie Revillas, 29, one of those rescued, broke down upon reaching a military camp when she learned that her husband, who was also abducted but got separated from her, was among the dead.

“He had not done anything wrong,” she sobbed. "It was not enough that they killed him. Why did they have to behead him?" The hostages said they were abducted from their houses.

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August 8, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines~ Milf rebels reach truce deal,
Wednesday, 02:35

MANILA: One and a half months after the resumption of formal talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) and the Philippine government in Tripoli, Libya, the warring camps forged a formal ceasefire yesterday in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Milf and government peace panels headed by Al Hajj Murad Ebrahim and Manila chief negotiator Jesus Dureza, respectively, were in Tripoli in June during which they signed an interim peace accord that provides for a ceasefire, return and rehabilitation of evacuees, monitoring by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), etc.

The formal talks shifted to Malaysia since July 24 for a three-point agenda, such as ceasefire guidelines and mechanics, development framework and ancestral domain, said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's adviser on the peace process, Secretary Eduardo Ermita, in a radio interview.

Yesterday, Milf and government negotiators signed the formal truce witnessed by Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar. It was the first day of Arroyo's to Malaysia, the first visit to any foreign country.

However, the Philippine president and Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammad, were not around to witness the signing as they met in the afternoon for a one-on-one meeting, discussing peace and development cooperation plans between the two neighbouring Asian countries.

"This is good news for everybody," Dureza said. "If we are able to silence the gun and move into development, it is a dream of every one in Mindanao," Dureza said.

Earlier, the Milf also signed a unity agreement with the unified Moro National Liberation Front's (MNLF) factions of the Executive Council and the Islamic Command Council, whose leaders were formal allies of MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari.

However, the pacts do not cover the Abu Sayyaf — the only Muslim militant group still fighting in the southern Philippines — which is holding 21 US and Filipino hostages on southern Basilan island where the Milf also operates.

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August 8, 2001, The Peninsula, Philippine troops closing in on Sayyaf guerrillas,
Wednesday, 03:04

KAPAYAWAN: Philippine troops were zeroing in on Muslim Abu Sayyaf kidnappers holding two Americans and 19 Filipinos on southern Basilan island, military officials said yesterday.

Troops have already pinpointed the location of the rebels in Basilan's vast jungle terrain, but could not yet strike in fear of injuring the captives, a senior commander who did not want to be named said.

He said the guerrillas had been on the move constantly since their abduction of 35 people in a night raid on a Christian village on Lamitan town last Thursday.

Ten of the Lamitan hostages were beheaded over the weekend, while the rest were either rescued or abandoned by the rebels. Another unit is holding American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and 19 other Filipinos.

The rebels have claimed to have executed a third American, Californian Guillermo Sobero, although his body has not been found.

Pursuing soldiers clashed with an Abu Sayyaf group in the town of Tuburan in Basilan's eastern coast yesterday, leaving one rebel dead, local army spokesman Major Alberto Gepilano said.

Several skirmishes also broke out in different areas of the island but there were no other reports of casualties, Gepilano said. Colonel Hermogenes Esperon, leader of one of the task forces hunting the Abu Sayyaf, said soldiers were on the heels of a 30-man band that had raided Lamitan.

This group had no hostages with them, allowing the military to use all force against them, the colonel added.

"The next four to five days will be critical," he said. But weary soldiers tracking the rebels in the depths of Basilan's jungles said the thick vegetation and unfamiliar terrain were slowing them down.

"We have not been catching them as fast as we want to but look at the terrain. It is very difficult," said Major Reynaldo Ordonez, whose group is manning a military resupply route in the jungle.

The 1,327 sq km Basilan island is dotted by volcanic hills, with deep ravines and jungles with surrounding isolated communities that could be vulnerable to Abu Sayyaf attack, he said.

Soldiers also have to cross dangerous creeks where they could be vulnerable to ambush. Many have also fallen ill due to malaria, officials have said. Esperon said the 5,000 soldiers deployed in Basilan, however, were in high spirits after a successful rescue of 13 Filipino hostages on Sunday.

A group of soldiers who arrived at the supply site were caked with mud and wore beards after weeks without shaving.

While troops "are itching to fight" the rebels, Esperon said the Abu Sayyaf "still have the advantage because they have memorized the rough terrain."

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said President Gloria Arroyo met her cabinet on Monday to discuss the protection of local villagers. "The intensified crackdown will continue," Golez said.

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August 9, 2001, The Peninsula, Sayyaf rebels will be crushed by November: army,
Thursday, 01:03

ISABELA: Philippines military chief of staff Diomedio Villanueva yesterday vowed to crush the Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group and rescue all 21 hostages by November.

"We expect it to end by November considering the tactical operation and the variables," General Villanueva said reporters during a visit to the southern island of Basilan, where the two American and 19 Filipino hostages are being held.

"We have dismantled their mass base," he said, citing the arrest of more than 100 suspected Abu Sayyaf supporters over the past month. Because of this, "the Abu Sayyaf is starting to react with violent actions."

The Abu Sayyaf, notorious for attacks on Christians and foreigners in the south, launched their latest kidnapping spree on May 27, snatching three Americans and 17 Filipinos from a luxury resort and hiding them in the jungles of Basilan.

They have since freed some of their Filipino captives, reportedly for hefty ransom payments, but seized more Filipino hostages. Last week they abducted 34 residents and beheaded 10 men. The rest were later let go.

The rebels claim to have executed one of their American hostages, Californian Guillermo Sobero. The military presumes Sobero is dead, although his remains have not been found. Asked why it was taking the military so long to end the crisis, Villanueva said: "We are sticking to reality. We are trying to systemise the mode of operation."

Opposition Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a former military chief, criticized the military's failure to crush the Abu Sayyaf.

In a statement he wondered whether a failure of military intelligence had led to last week's abductions and beheadings, and whether there was collusion between the Abu Sayyaf and the military.

Biazon said that in a visit to Basilan last weekend, residents "confided their feelings of helplessness and hopelessness to him" over the government’s failure to resolve the Abu Sayyaf problem.

In the town of Lamitan, residents still traumatised by the attack, buried three of the 10 Christians beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf in their weekend raid. Over a hundred relatives and friends of the deceased wept hysterically during the Catholic mass as the three coffins — one wrapped in plastic to hide the smell of the decomposing body, were prepared for burial.

From the church, newly-renovated after an Abu Sayyaf attack in June, the mourners, flanked by Garand rifle-toting militiamen, brought the bodies to the cemetery where they were laid to rest. Virginia Natalaray, whose son Elmer was one of those buried, collapsed in anguish, screaming, "my son was innocent. Why did they do this to him?"
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August 9, 2001, The Peninsula, Arroyo welcomes ceasefire pact with Milf guerrillas,
Thursday, 01:05

MANILA: President Gloria Arroyo yesterday welcomed the ceasefire pact with the Philippines' leading Muslim guerrilla outfit as a long-awaited boost for the impoverished southern economy.

Other officials, rebel sources and analysts were less sanguine, saying there are still formidable hurdles to persuading the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) to abandon its 23-year secessionist campaign.

Arroyo, on a state visit to Malaysia, urged foreign businessmen to pour capital into the desperately poor southern areas, hit by decades of Muslim rebellion.

Arroyo said she was happy to be in Kuala Lumpur to personally receive news of the ceasefire signed with the Milf in the Malaysian capital on Tuesday. "This new government is committed in settling the issue of security.

"It is committed to lasting peace in Mindanao and to bring Mindanao to the mainstream of development," Arroyo said, referring to the main southern island.

"Peace negotiations for a final settlement are ongoing," she said at a business luncheon.

With Milf guns silenced for now, officials said the military would focus on the Abu Sayyaf, a smaller Muslim guerrilla unit holding at least two American and 19 Filipino hostages on the southern island of Basilan.

"This will enable the government to concentrate its operations against the Abu Sayyaf," National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said. He stressed that provisions of the ceasefire pact prevented the Milf from giving shelter to the Abu Sayyaf.

The presidential palace here said Arroyo told a state banquet in Kuala Lumpur late on Tuesday that she hoped the truce would be "the beginning of the end of a conflict that has caused so much suffering and devastation to our country and people."

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Polls held August 14 on a plebiscite on expanding a Muslim autonomy zone.
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August 13, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Christians to shun Muslim autonomy vote in Philippines,
Monday, 03:11

ZAMBOANGA: A massive Christian "no" vote was shaping up yesterday as the Philippines prepared to hold a plebiscite on expanding a Muslim autonomy zone in the country’s rebellion-racked south.

In polls to be held tomorrow, millions of Christians and Muslims on the southern island of Mindanao and adjacent isles will be asked if they favour joining a five-year-old autonomy area currently ruled by a former Muslim separatist leader.

Manila set up the autonomy zone in 1996 to try to defuse demands by Muslim separatists for an Islamic state in the south of the 85 per cent Roman Catholic country. The region has also been racked by a wave of kidnaps orchestrated by the extremist Abu Sayyaf group, which has been holding two Americans and 16 Filipinos hostage for over 10 weeks.

"I think there will be a massive vote against joining the ARMM," North Cotabato provincial governor Emmanuel Pinol said, referring to the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao. North Cotabato is among 11 provinces and 14 cities which will hold the plebiscite. Ten of those provinces and almost all of the cities are dominated by Christians.

The present autonomy area comprises four small, impoverished Muslim provinces. The area is governed by former rebel chief Nur Misuari, a leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The autonomy zone was established under the 1996 peace agreement between Manila and the MNLF, then the biggest separatist group fighting the government. The plebiscite aims to give the MNLF a chance to persuade richer Christian-ruled provinces in Mindanao to join an expanded autonomy area.

The country's five million Muslims regard Mindanao, 800 km south of Manila, as their ancestral homeland. Migrations by rich Christian settlers reduced them to a minority, with little voice on how the mineral-rich region was to be run. The disenchantment triggered an MNLF-led separatist revolt in 1972.

"This plebiscite will show that only a few areas will go for this autonomy," Zamboanga Congressman Celso Lobregat said. Presidential peace adviser Eduardo Ermita said that, at best, one province and two cities, all Muslim, might vote to join.

Christian leaders said one reason why other provinces would refuse to join was that Misuari, as regional governor, had failed to deliver on his promises to develop the autonomy area. "This is not a Christian-Muslim issue," Pinol said. "The main reason why people would not be enticed to join is that they have not seen changes (in the autonomy area)."

Some Muslims have threatened to boycott the plebiscite, which is being held in the midst of a power struggle within the MNLF. A group of MNLF leaders who have accused Misuari of alleged mismanagement recently ousted him as MNLF chairman and replaced him with an executive council.

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The Real Kidnappings Were of Rich Chinese-Filipino's...

August 13, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Gunmen demand $10m for Chinese captives,
Wednesday, 01:26

COTABATO, Philippines: Muslim gunmen yesterday demanded a $10m ransom for four Chinese men and a Filipino they had abducted in the latest kidnapping to hit the southern Philippines.

The military has launched a massive pursuit operation to track down suspected renegade members of the largest Muslim rebel group who staged the kidnapping.

The leader of the 25-member gang, identifying himself as Abu Hamsa, told local DXMS radio here that he would only negotiate with a representative of the Libyan government for the freedom of his captives.

"We are now demanding $10m for the release of all five kidnap victims," Hamsa said. "We will only negotiate with a representative from the Libyan embassy in Manila."

Hamsa claimed to be a former guerrilla of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and said he resorted to kidnapping for ransom to feed his family and relatives after the government allegedly reneged on a promise of livelihood assistance when he surrendered years earlier.

The MILF is the country's main Muslim insurgent group which has opened peace talks and signed a truce with Manila.

"The government broke its promise, now we are resorting to kidnapping so we would be noticed," Hamsa said.

The latest kidnap victims were Zang Zong Yee, Wang Shung Li and Zho Zhing from China and Filipino guide Edwin Lim.

The four were seized by Hamsa's group on Sunday while delivering a five million-peso ($94,339) ransom for a Chinese engineer the gunmen had snatched in North Cotabato province in June, officials said.

The kidnapped engineer, Zang Zong Quiang, was the executive director of the China Import Export Technologies Inc, a sub-contractor for a major irrigation project in the area, provincial governor Emmanuel Pinol said.

Asked where he was keeping the hostages, Hamsa said: "We are just nearby."

The latest abduction comes in the middle of another hostage crisis playing out elsewhere in the south.


Another group, the Abu Sayyaf, has been holding 18 captives, including two Americans, for nearly three months on the southern island of Basilan, where 5,000 soldiers are involved in a massive rescue operation.

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August 19, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Kidnapping problem to be solved this year: Manila,
Sunday, 05:21

MANILA: Philippine government officials yesterday said they were confident that the problem of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim kidnapping group and the rash of abductions in general would be solved this year.

President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said this was relayed to her during a meeting of top security officials in the presidential palace.

Regarding the problem posed by the Abu Sayyaf, who are holding 18 Filipino and American hostages on the southern island of Basilan in a hostage crisis that is entering its third month, Tiglao said fighting them was "a slow process because they are always hiding".

However, he said the military assured Arroyo that "they feel that they are still on track to eliminating the Abu Sayyaf definitely within the year".

Tiglao added that other government agencies were confident of solving other kidnapping cases that have alarmed the public in recent months.

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August 25, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo pledges crackdown on kidnappers,
Saturday,

August 25, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Officer narrates army debacle,
Saturday,

August 26, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, General denies collusion with Sayyaf rebels,
Sunday,

August 26, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Briefs: Philippines/World,
Sunday,

August 27, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Army selling weapons to Sayyaf: Milf,
Monday,

August 29, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Governor is aiding Sayyaf~ say witnesses,
Wednesday,

August 29, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, 15 Filipinos die as army, rebels clash,
Wednesday,

August 30, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf shipping arms to Indonesian rebels: Manila,
Thursday,

September 1, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Detained Sayyaf leader sent back to Manila,
Saturday,

September 1, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila to pay $5~000 to slain hostages' kin,
Saturday,

December 4, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, US hostage chained to gunman~ says army,
Tuesday,

December 5, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Hussin vows to curb rebellion; four Misuari supporters killed,
Wednesday,

December 6, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, OIC to hold talks on MNLF leadership,
Thursday,

December 6, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Hussin opposes US role in rebel fight,
Thursday,

December 8, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops kill 11 Sayyaf men; US team arrives,
Saturday,

December 9, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, US team monitors troops training,
Sunday,

December 10, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Malaysian cops clear Misuari of abduction,
Monday,

December 10, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, US troops offer to help rescue hostages,
Monday,

December 11, 2001, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila to take back Misuari next month,
Tuesday,
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January 2, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Tiahrt seeks role for US troops in rescue bid,
Wednesday,

January 3, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US lawmaker satisfied with rescue efforts,
Thursday,

January 8, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, America encourages proxy wars on terror,
Tuesday,
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January 8, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US team to enter Sayyaf hideout,
Tuesday,

MANILA: US military advisers plan to enter jungles in the southern Philippines where Abu Sayyaf guerrillas are operating to gauge the logistical and training needs of Filipino soldiers, a security official said yesterday.

He said the Philippine and US governments were discussing whether Americans could fire back if attacked, President Gloria Arroyo’s National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said.

Up to 25 American advisers are due in the Philippines next week to train Filipino troops to be fielded against the Abu Sayyaf, officials said last week.

Golez said the advisers would “observe” the actual Philippine military operations against the Abu Sayyaf, which holds two American hostages in the remote island of Basilan.

“We are negotiating the rules of engagement, just in case they themselves become targets,” Golez told DZRH radio here.

He likened the situation to Filipino sports officials hiring foreign trainers and coaches for the national basketball team. “They can’t just watch videotapes. They have to be courtside, watching,” he said.

The Philippine government earlier said the US advisers would not be joining the combat.

But Golez said yesterday: “It is difficult to give advice and assess the equipment required” by the Filipino troops “unless they personally see the situation on the ground”.

Golez said Manila has asked the Pentagon to train “two light reaction companies” in addition to one such unit already in operation. Several US army communications experts have already arrived to set up a communications center for the advisers in the southern command in Zamboanga.___________________________________________________________________________

January 10, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Over 100 US troops expected in Zamboanga,
Thursday,

MANILA: More than 100 US troops are to arrive in the southern Philippines in February to help Manila crush the Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerilla group, military officials said yesterday. MANILA: More than 100 US troops are to arrive in the southern Philippines in February to help Manila crush the Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerilla group, military officials said yesterday.

The Americans will be allowed to go the front lines in the jungle-clad terrain of Basilan island, where the gunmen are holding hostage a US couple and a Filipina hostage, but will not be actively joining combat operations, they said.

US soldiers will only “assess” the progress of the military rescue operations, armed forces chief of staff General Diomedio Villanueva said.

"They may go to the battle front, but we will not allow them to be in direct contact with the enemy,” Villanueva told reporters in southern Zamboanga city.

An advance US party of eight has already arrived in the military’s southern command in Zamboanga city to check on logistics and prepare training materials to “effect the destruction of the Abu Sayyaf”, military spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan said.

About 25 others are to arrive next week, but the main bulk of US advisers, consisting of more than 100 troops, is to arrive in February and would train Filipino soldiers in special anti-terrorism warfare, he said.

US Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz has said his government’s future efforts against terrorists would likely mean denying them sanctuary in places such as Somalia, Yemen, Indonesia and the Philippines through cooperation with individual governments.

Wolfowitz noted that the Philippine government has been eager in receiving US help in quelling the Abu Sayyaf although it was “very anxious to do it themselves”.

"That’s the crucial standard for them,” Wolfowitz told the International Herald Tribune in comments published yesterday. "They're very willing to take help within the framework of helping them help themselves." US involvement “might include direct support of Philippine military operations", he added.

"There's no question that we believe that if they could clear the Abu Sayyaf group out of Basilan island, that would be a small blow against the extended Al Qaeda network," he added.

Military southern command chief Lieutenant General Roy Cimatu said the American soldiers would be allowed to travel to Basilan, but will be about "two to three kilometres away from the fighting area".

Meanwhile, a Philippine military spokesman said yesterday that an undetermined number of separatist guerrillas are believed to have been killed or wounded in a clash with soldiers in the southern Philippines in Zamboanga.

An army foot patrol ran into a Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) unit near the town of Talayan on Tuesday, triggering a running gunbattle, Captain Noel Detoyato said.

"The fighting left a still undetermined number of gunmen dead or wounded,” Detoyato said, quoting field reports released by the military's southern command.

There were no casualties among the soldiers, who recovered three rifles and a grenade launcher from the rebels.
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January 12, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf men kill three in Basilan attack,
Sat, 02:51:06

BASILAN, Philippines: Gunmen ambushed security guards of Basilan governor Wahab Akbar in the southern Philippines yesterday, killing three people in what officials said was the second clash this week with Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels.

Two women and a two-year-old girl travelling with the group were killed and six security guards were seriously wounded when their vehicle was attacked on the island province of Basilan, local officials said.

Abu Sayyaf is fighting on Basilan for a separate Islamic state from the mainly Catholic Philippines.

Governor Akbar, a Muslim, said the attack proved that he was not siding with the Abu Sayyaf as some critics have claimed.

“Presently, 11 people who are close to me are casualties in this war against the Abu Sayyaf,” Akbar, who was not with the attacked group, said in a statement.

Local officials quoted Nasser Abubakar, a wounded security guard whose wife and daughter died in the attack, as saying the group fought back but it was not immediately known whether the attackers suffered any casualties.

The military were chasing the attackers who fled after the ambush, the officials said.

The ambush follows a clash on Tuesday in nearby Zamboanga, in which 15 people were injured in a gunfight between government troops and a combined group of Abu Sayyaf and followers of detained Muslim leader Nur Misuari.

The Abu Sayyaf group, linked by the United States to the Al Qaeda network of Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, has for months held hostage an American missionary couple and a Filipino nurse, as part of a campaign of kidnap-for-ransom.

An advance team of US. soldiers arrived in the southern Philippines on Thursday, the first of a group of more than 100 who will train local troops fighting the Abu Sayyaf.

Meanwhile, a Pentagon spokesman said yesterday in Washington that US forces are gearing up for an expanded effort to train, equip and assist the Philippine military to fight Muslim extremists operating in the southern Philippines.

A couple of dozen US military personnel have been in the country since November to lay the groundwork for the arrival of a larger US military contingent that will work with the Philippines southern command, said Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis.

“We are gearing up to do more with our training programme, but that has not commenced yet,” he said, adding that US military officials were meeting with the Filipino government to work out the details.

“I don’t think there’s anything mysterious about it at all,” said US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a press conference with visiting Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill.

“We all know that the Philippine government has been very seriously attempting to deal with terrorists on one or two islands in the Philippines, that they have some hostages that have been taken over time, some of whom have been killed, some of whom, I believe, may have been released. But some are still held, including some Americans,” he said.

Rumsfeld declined to comment on whether US forces will become directly involved in operations against Abu Sayyaf

“Our belief is the Philippines armed forces when properly trained, maintained and assisted are capable of carrying out this war on terrorism on their own,” he said.

The US military personnel that are in the Philippines have undertaken “site surveys, logistics planning, and force protection planning in preparation for the larger group that is going to come and do assistance, training and maintaining.”

Since November, the United States has given the Philippines military a C-130 transport aircraft, 30,000 M-16 rifles, and eight UH-1 “Huey” helicopters, he said.

The US is working to provide Philippine with a Cycline class patrol boat, Davis added.________________________________________________________________________________

January 12, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US troops disarm Afghan militias,
Saturday, 02:57

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan: Amid rising banditry in Afghanistn, US troops have begun disarming rag-tag militia fighters in the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, witnesses said yesterday. SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan: Amid rising banditry in Afghanistn, US troops have begun disarming rag-tag militia fighters in the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, witnesses said yesterday.

Local Spin Boldak commander Gud Fida Mohammad said that security men of Gul Agha, governor of the surrounding southern province of Kandahar as well as his own men had disarmed many of the private militias in the city on Thursday evening.

"The mopping up operation is going to be extended to adjoining areas as well,” he said.

A Reuters reporter saw two US soldiers enter a room at a checkpoint set up by a militia group near the border with Pakistan while a third uniformed soldier stood guard outside, a Reuters reporter said.

After a few minutes the soldiers emerged from the room carrying about 16 Kalashnikovs that they dumped in their vehicle, he said.

"People watched the troops with surprise but there was no sign of tension,” said the reporter.

However, uniformed security officials loyal to Gul Agha were allowed to retain their weapons and could be seen roaming Spin Boldak.

"Unlike the past, no one is carrying weapons in the town except for the uniformed security personnel of the local administration,” one resident said.
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January 14, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops raid Sayyaf hideout,
Mon, 02:04:14

ZAMBOANGA: Philippine troops have killed an undetermined number of suspected Muslim Abu Sayyaf gunmen in a raid on a rebel stronghold, a top military official said yesterday.

Villagers had told the troops of the presence of gunmen in Tuburan town on southern Basilan island, where the Abu Sayyaf are holding captive a US Christian missionary couple and a Filipina nurse, military southern command chief Lieutenant General Roy Cimatu, “Villagers have been providing the military with information about the prescne of gunmen in their areas, particularly the Abu Sayyaf and we are grateful to them,” he said.

Cimatu said a number of rebels were believed killed in the fighting, which occured late on Friday. There were no casualties on the government side.

It was not immediately known if the gunmen belonged to the same Abu Sayyaf unit holding hostage Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina nurse Deborah Yap in Basilan’s jungle-clad terrain, the general said.

The trio were the last of dozens of captives seized by the Abu Sayyaf in a kidnapping spree last year. The gunmen had beheaded a third American, Guillermo Sobero of California, as well as more than a dozen Filipino captives.

The Abu Sayyaf are Islamic militants operating in the southern Philippines and are believed linked to the Al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden.

President Gloria Arroyo was among the first leaders to have supported President George W Bush’s global war on terrorism.

In return, Washington has been providing military assistance to the Philippines war against the Abu Sayyaf.___________________________________________________________________________


January 15, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops kill two Milf rebels~ capture one,

Tue, 01:41:09_______________________________________________________________________

January 16, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US troops join drive to crush Sayyaf men,
Wed, 01:02:06

MANILA: In a potentially risky operation described as a training exercise, US soldiers began deploying yesterday in the southern Philippines where they could be drawn into combat against armed local allies of Osama bin Laden.

Nearly 700 US troops are scheduled to pour into Basilan island and other areas of the rebellion-torn Mindanao region over the next few weeks, some to take part as advisers in real-life operations against Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas.

The undertaking, the first of its kind since the US-led military campaign against Bin Laden and his Taleban hosts in Afghanistan, is consistent with US President George W Bush’s policy of helping allied governments facing terrorism in their backyards.

The exercises, which could last at least six months to a year, got off to a low-key start yesterday in the southern city of Zamboanga, where US and Filipino military coordinators met to thrash out operational details.

But the novel effort was met by warnings from some senators that the US involement could get out of hand and violate the constitution, which bars foreign combat forces on Philippine soil.

“The government should tell us the truth. Do we have a joint military exercise or an offensive,” opposition Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a former military chief of staff, said.

Arriving in batches starting next week from units based in Hawaii, Okinawa and the US mainland, up to 690 US soldiers would join local troops in the operations against the Abu Sayyaf as “observers” but will be armed and allowed to return fire if attacked, officials say.

Between 160 and 190 US military advisers would be deployed in Basilan, backed up by a 500-member support crew, they added.

More than a dozen US troops are already in Zamboanga, where barracks have been built for them.

Several hundred Abu Sayyaf Muslim gunmen have been holding an American couple hostage in the island of Basilan near Zamboanga since June. They have murdered more than a dozen other captives, including an American man.

“I emphasise the presence of the Americans is to train, advise and assist our troops and military, but they can defend themselves if attacked by enemy groups,” said Brigadier General Emmanuel Teodosio, the training director for the 1,200 Filipino troops taking part in the exercises.

“We do not want to subject them to unnecessary risks but they will be in the battlefront,” he told reporters after the Zamboanga meeting.

Filipino military spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan however stressed that the Americans were aware of the risks and “if they sustain casualties, they have already factored that in their planning.”

Apart from the US troops that figure in annual joint war games in the Philippines, American participants of the “Kalayaan-Aguila 2002” (Freedom-Eagle 2002) would be the first deployments of US ground forces in this southeast Asian archipelago in about a decade.

Tens of thousands of US servicemen vacated key forward facilities at Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Base north of Manila in 1992 after the Filipino senate refused to renew a near-century old military bases treaty.

The manoeuvres involve “preparation, training and deployment” in Basilan and other areas, Teodosio said.

The operation would update the application of a half-century-old mutual defence pact between Manila and Washington, said Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes, stressing: “The world has changed a lot since 1951.”_______________________________________________________________________

January 17, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo defends deployment of US troops,
Thu, 01:42:28

MANILA: President Gloria Arroyo yesterday defended the deployment of hundreds of US forces in a risky training exercise in the southern Philippines, where Muslim gunmen allied with Osama bin Laden are holding an American couple hostage.

The deployment was within the bounds of the 1987 constitution and American soldiers will only be acting as advisers, Arroyo told local radio.

Manila has committed to crush Muslim militants in its backyard as part of the US-led global war on terrorism, she said.

“Our enemy is the Abu Sayyaf, who are international terrorists. They are not only an internal threat, they are an international threat,” Arroyo said.

She noted that authorities in Indonesia were also investigating a prominent Muslim militant’s possible links to bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.

Arroyo was reacting to criticism by the opposition who claimed the deployment could lead to a similar US military debacle as in the Vietnam War in the 1970s.

The legislators also demanded an intelligence briefing, noting that an admission by military officials that the US trainers would be issued live ammunition and could fire back if attacked was raising some concern.

But Arroyo yesterday said the US soldiers would only be “observing our soldiers from the back.”

“The American forces will not be joining combat,” she said, noting the training was no different than previous annual joint military exercises — only that the “curriculum and location have changed.”

Meanwhile, in Washington US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld confirmed yesterday that hundreds of US troops will participate in military manoeuvres in the southern Philippines.

“What we have currently going on is training and exercises, and it is not a modest number. It’s several hundred plus,” Rumsfeld said in an interview here with a group of radio reporters.

He said some US military trainers would be with Filipino forces at various locations, including the islands of Basilan and Jolo in the southern Philippines where the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf has been active.

Other US troops were being deployed in a support role, he said.

“We’ve been friendly with the Philippines for many, many years and we’re happy to be providing assitance to them and training,” Rumsfeld said.________________________________________________________________________

January 19, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Govt backtracks on role of US troops,
Sat, 01:38:45

MANILA: Philippine officials, dismayed by mounting criticism of US troops joining operations against Muslim guerrillas, said yeserday that American soldiers might not go out in the field at all.

Presidential adviser Eduardo Ermita told reporters the Philippine and US militaries were reviewing how to conduct the joint operations in rebel territory and could decide that the Americans need not accompany local counterparts on patrol or assault missions.

In any case, it would be at least three months before any US soldier would be deployed on the field in the area, other officials said.

Although officially non-combatants, sending hundreds of US troops to the Philippines represents Washington’s biggest expansion of the war against terror after Afghanistan.

Despite Manila’s protestations, there has been widespread speculation that the US troops would be involved in fighting the Abu Sayyaf, a militant group linked to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network and infamous for kidnapping.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo reiterated in an interview with CNN that the US troops were in the Philippines to provide training, and not to flush out the Abu Sayyaf.

But many have said it is highly unusual to hold training exercises in areas which could come under attack and that it could just be a cover-up for combat.

Even Vice-President Teofisto Guingona has said he has some reservations over the issue, although he has denied rumours he was resigning from his post as foreign secretary.

“I fully support President Arroyo in the objective of rescuing the remaining hostages of the Abu Sayyaf,” Guingona told a local radio station. “But I also expressed some of my concerns.” He did not elaborate.

The Abu Sayyaf, based mainly on the rugged and jungle-clad southern island of Basilan, have been holding a US couple and a local nurse hostage there for over seven months.

Meanwhile, a proposal was tabled in the Senate to force Arroyo to clarify what the US troops would be doing. It has still to be adopted by the legislature.

Some 650 US troops, including 160 special forces, will participate in exercises with the Philippine military on Basilan and in nearby Zamboanga city at least until June and possibly all year. The exercises were formally launched earlier this week and some US soldiers have already landed on Basilan.

Opposition politicians and left-wing groups here have said the move violates the constitution, which does not allow foreign troops in a combat role in the country.

Former senator Francisco Tatad has said it has made the Philippines “a virtual extension of Afghanistan” and that Arroyo could be impeached for treason.

“People might think the soldiers are there for combat, but they are not there to do combat, they are there to do training... The joint military exercises are intended to be mutual training,” Arroyo said in her interview.

“The overwhelming majority of the people support it ... because the people want to see an end to the Abu Sayyaf problem.”

But the US troops will be armed and, according to current plans, will accompany the Philippine military in the field. They have been authorised to fire in self-defence.

Presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told foreign correspondents the need for joint field exercises would be evaluated after initial training programmes were completed and in any case would not take place before April.

“It has to be evaluated three to four months from now, if the evaluation of the training programme says that you have to go to the field level,” Tiglao said.________________________________________________________________________

January 19, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Muslim leaders warn of full-scale war,
Sat, 01:44:12

MANILA: Filipino Muslim leaders have warned the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that the ongoing Philippine-American joint military exercise in Basilan could explode into a full-scale war in Mindanao.

Congresswoman Faysah Dumarpa of the first district of Lanao del Sur urged the government to rethink its policy on the controversial military action called ‘Kalayaan Aguila 2002’, or else it could trigger a Mindanao-wide conflict.

Another Lanao del Sur lawmaker, Representative Benasing Macarambon Jr, expressed fears that the presence of the armed US personnel in southern Philippines could revive the destructive low-intensity conflict that was used for communist insurgency in some Third World countries by the American intelligence community.

Macarambon said it is also an embarrassment for the Philippine government to admit that it could not contain or neutralise the Abu Sayyaf that numbers only a little over 100-strong.

“The last thing that we like to see in Mindanao is a full-scale war that will make the civilians suffer more and the region’s economy once again in tatters,”he said.

Macarambon said that once the Americans will suffer casualties or deaths in encounters with the bandits during the military exercise, no one could stop them from engaging in full combat, and escalation will not be far behind._______________________________________________________________________

January 20, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US hostages sighted near Basilan: Army,
Sun, 01:23:41

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines: Philippine troops had found the two American hostages being held by Muslim guerrillas but were unable to rescue them, the regional military chief said here yesterday.

Lieutenant General Roy Cimatu said the American missionary couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham, were sighted with their Abu Sayyaf captors in the jungles of nearby Basilan island in the southern Philippines.

But he would not say when the sightings occured.

Cimatu said the Abu Sayyaf were very mobile, making it difficult to pin-point their location to rescue the hostages.

Thousands of Philippine troops have been hunting for the Abu Sayyaf since they launched their latest kidnapping spree in May, abducting the Burnhams, another American and numerous Filipinos.

Meanwhile, President Gloria Arroyo said yesterday that the entry of American forces in joint operations in the south shows that the Philippines is no longer alone in fighting Muslim militants in the area.

“We have been fighting for a long time. We were alone in our fight against the Abu Sayyaf,” Arroyo said, referring to the Muslim kidnapping group that is still holding two Americans and a Filipina in the southern island of Basilan.

“Now, we have allies in our fight because there is a global war against terrorism,” Arroyo said in her weekly radio show.

Arroyo also defended her decision to allow US forces to engage in joint operations with Philippine troops against the Abu Sayyaf.

“We want to destroy the Abu Sayyaf. We want to have the means to carry this out,” she said.

Cimatu said the Abu Sayyaf were very mobile, refusing to even engage pursuing troops, thus making it difficult to pin-point their location to rescue the hostages.

A small batch of US advisers are already in the southern Philippines setting the stage for the arrival of more US soldiers for lengthy joint exercises.

The Americans will initially train Philippine troops in counter-militant operations, but will possibly join them later in more direct action against the Abu Sayyaf.

Arroyo denied that the US government had pressured her into accepting the American troops.

She cited her meeting with US President George W Bush in November, claiming he offered her use of American troops to fight the Abu Sayyaf but she declined then and only asked for equipment and training.

Critics have assailed Arroyo for allowing the US forces to participate in operations against the Abu Sayyaf, saying it may be unconstitutional.

But the government says the deployment is covered by an agreement allowing joint military exercises in the Philippines and has stressed that the Americans will be kept back from the front lines.

US military forces already in the southern city of Zamboanga made a visit to Basilan island yesterday to meet local commanders, inspect training sites and make preparations for the joint military operations on that island, regional army spokesman Major Noel Detoyato said.

Five other US troops arrived in Zamboanga with more expected in the coming days, military sources said.

The group executed more than a dozen hostages last year including one of the American nationals, Guillermo Sobero, who was beheaded in June.

__________________________________________________________________
January 21, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Protests greet Arroyo on govt anniversary,
Mon, 02:30:06

January 22, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Southeast Asia might be next terror haven: Philippine official
Tue,  02:23:34

January 23, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Deal on logistics support on anvil
Wed, 01:55:20
__________________________________________________________________

January 23, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Resort hit by kidnaps to reopen in March
Wed, 01:56:09

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines: Dos Palmas, the Philippine resort made infamous by the kidnap of guests by Muslim guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network, said yesterday that it would reopen for business in March.

The plush holiday facility in Palawan in the western Philippines shut down last October, its business battered by the kidnapping incident and a worldwide slump in tourism after the September 11 attacks in the United States.

On May 27, masked Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in speedboats stole into the resort before dawn and seized three American and 17 Filipino tourists from their cottages at gunpoint.

They were then taken to Basilan, a remote jungle-clad island in the Philippines 900kms south of Manila.

Two of the Americans, missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, are still hostages of the Abu Sayyaf while a third, Californian Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded by the group.

“We have a good product and a good destination. We will try to improve almost every facet of our operations to attract guests here and from abroad,” the resort said in a media release.

It added that it had borrowed funds to try and get the resort back on its feet, starting this summer holiday season.

The company said it had addressed the public’s security concerns at Dos Palmas, as well as in the Honda Bay area of Palawan, with the help of industry operators and local officials, but it did not give details._______________________________________________________________________

January 23, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo deputy may quit over US troops
Wed, 03:54:30

MANILA: President Gloria Arroyo is headed for a showdown with her vice president, Teofisto Guingona, over his opposition to deploying US troops in the Philippines in a widening campaign against terrorism, officials said yesterday. MANILA: President Gloria Arroyo is headed for a showdown with her vice president, Teofisto Guingona, over his opposition to deploying US troops in the Philippines in a widening campaign against terrorism, officials said yesterday.

But Arroyo dismissed reports here that the vice president was considering quitting his post as foreign secretary as he weighed his options in the standoff.

“I have not received any such resignation,” she told reporters.

Arroyo aides disclosed last week that Guingona had “raised some issues” over the deployment of up to 660 US soldiers, including at least 160 Special Forces trainers, to be sent to the south in strongholds of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas.

The Philippine Inquirer newspaper also said Guingona has suggested the US military presence may be unconstitutional, and that he was he was considering whether to live with a policy which he disagrees with, or risk pulling down the administration. “The nature of what we are discussing is very sensitive,” the daily quoted Guingona as saying.

The country’s two highest officials were to meet today with other members of the National Security Council to discuss the US military deployments, Arroyo aides said.

Guingona attended a regular cabinet meeting Tuesday, but he did not speak out on his reservations on the issue, presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said, adding: “We can’t speculate on what the vice president would say” today. Arroyo “respects the vice president’s views” and hoped he would stay on board, Tiglao said.
_____________________________________________________________________

January 24, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Eight rebels killed as Sayyaf~ troops clash
Thu, 01:28:26

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines: At least eight Muslim Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed in a fierce gunbattle yesterday on a southern Philippine island where the guerrillas are holding a US couple hostage, military officials said.

Fighting broke out before noon when patrolling scout rangers ran into a group of Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in a mountainous area in southern Basilan island’s Tuburan town, military officials said.

A six-hour running gunbattle ensued, leaving two Abu Sayyaf guerrillas dead and one scout ranger wounded, military southern command spokesman Major Noel Detoyato said.

But interception of rebel radio communications indicated six other Abu Sayyaf gunmen were also killed but their bodies were carted away by their comrades, southern command chief Lieutenant General Roy Cimatu said.

“Our operations are continuing. Clearing operations are ongoing in the area,” Detoyato said.

The fighting came as President Gloria Arroyo secured crucial backing for joint US-Philippine military operations against the Abu Sayyaf, which is allegedly linked with the Al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden.

The National Security Council, which includes congressional leaders, expressed full support for the military training exercises called Balikatan (Shoulder-to-shoulder), presidential national security adviser Roilo Golez said after the two-hour council meeting.

Vice-President and Foreign Secretary Teofisto Guingona, who had reservations about Arroyo’s decision and was rumoured to be on the verge of resigning, told reporters he respected the official position.

“No, no,” he said, when asked if he would quit the cabinet.

But a self-styled spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf, Abu Sulaiman, yesterday vowed the group would defeat US troops whom he branded “invaders”.

Abu Sayyaf gunmen “won’t run out of volunteers” to fight the troops, Sulaiman said.

“All of us will stand by our Creator on the Day of Judgement and we guarantee that, God willing, you are the loser,” Sulaiman said over Radio Mindanao Network, referring to the troops.

He said the Muslim minority in the south had for centuries encountered foreign “invaders” and “they were not fully successful in their version of the crusade.”

The first batches of the estimated 600 US troops who will participate in the joint operations have already set up logistical and communications facilities in the southern Philippines.

Officials said the American soldiers would not directly engage in combat but that small numbers of advisers would be allowed to accompany Filipino companies to the frontlines as armed observers.

The Abu Sayyaf is on the run from a massive operation involving about 5,000 local soldiers to rescue three hostages they are holding — US Christian missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina nurse Deborah Yap.

Authorities here have said the American couple were in a dire condition after months of captivity.

They also said that one of the Abu Sayyaf leaders, Abu Sabaya, who had previously acted as the group’s spokesman, had fallen ill amid the government’s relentless pursuit.

As Arroyo opened the meeting at the presidential palace, riot police clashed with dozens of leftists who burned hereffigy outside in protest over the foreign troops.

Police drove back the protesters with truncheons. In the south, a handful of protesters staged a demonstration in front of the regional military command headquarters in Zamboanga. They held up placards saying: “Don’t make the Philippines another Afghanistan” and “No to Uncle Sam”.______________________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine island of Basilan masks violence with natural beauty
Sat, 02:10:58

January 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Several rebels killed in fresh fighting
Sat, 02:11:47

January 27, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Two 'Pentagon' men killed in kidnap bid
Sun, 02:22:26
____________________________________________________________________________

January 28, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Filipinos cheer US troops, want to see kidnap gang wiped out
Mon, 02:23:23

MANILA: Militants may protest and opposition leaders gripe but most Filipinos, including the business community, are cheering the arrival of US troops to take part in operations against the Abu Sayyaf Muslim kidnapping group.

President Gloria Arroyo’s decision to allow the Americans in has received a largely favourable response, contrary to expectations that their arrival would trigger a political firestorm that would undermine her administration.

Despite almost daily street protests by leftists in front of the US embassy and initial complaints from some legislators and cabinet members, Arroyo has obtained a consensus from congressional leaders in favour of letting some 660 US soldiers into the southern Philippines.

As a result, the Philippine stock market and the local currency have strengthened in the past week as the Americans started arriving to help train local soldiers hunt down the Abu Sayyaf.

“What our politicians are beginning to realise, even the ones hostile to the American presence, is that most Filipinos are so sick and tired of the Abu Sayyaf problem that they are happy the Americans are coming to zap these rascals,” said Max Soliven, publisher of the Philippine Star newspaper, in a recent column.

When one opposition legislator charged that the public was enraged by the American presence, Congressman Jacinto Paras swiftly shot back: “Who is the public you are referring to?

“As far as my district and several other districts whose congressmen I talked to are concerned, they are rejoicing.”

Pro-American feelings remain strong in this former US colony, despite fierce nationalist sentiment among militant groups and the intelligentsia.

A nationwide survey by the respected polling firm Social Weather Stations in late 2000 found that 80 per cent of respondents trusted the US and only eight per cent distrusted it. No other foreign country came close. Support for the US is probably exceeded only by their loathing of the Abu Sayyaf.

The largely Roman Catholic people have been enraged by the Abu Sayyaf’s abduction and murder of Christians, including priests and nuns. The headline-grabbing crimes have given the country an image of lawlessness and danger, scaring away foreign investment and tourists.

But they have also been disappointed by the local military’s failure to crush the armed group despite several bloody campaigns in their island strongholds of Basilan and Jolo.

When the Abu Sayyaf slipped through a military cordon with their hostages in Basilan last June, allegations surfaced that some officers colluded with the kidnappers for a share of the ransom money. An inquiry was inconclusive but the damage to the military’s image was done.

Congressman Paras however is hopeful this will turn the tide for the Philippines. “It is not only the coming of soldiers. It is the trust of Americans to invest here. If their soldiers are here to protect the country, there is no reason their investors would not be able to invest here securely.”____________________________________________________________________________

January 28, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US soldiers to patrol rebel-infested region
Mon, 02:29:59

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines: US forces will patrol in the southern Philippines with local troops fighting Muslim guerrillas but only in areas with a low risk of combat, a Philippine military spokesman said yesterday.

The patrol areas — part of joint training exercises due to get underway on January 30 — will be carefully selected with the aid of sophisticated US intelligence systems, Major Noel Detoyato said.

“We will see to it that the area where they will go to is where the threat level is low, not where we think the enemy would be,” Detoyato said in an interview at the headquarters of the southern Philippine military command.

“That’s the condition,” Detoyato said.

Philippine officials have given conflicting statements about whether the US troops will go out in the field as part of the exercises.

The US troops will be armed and allowed to fire in self-defence and many critics have said that is highly unusual in any training.

Critics have said the government is using the training to mask a deployment of US troops in a combat role, which would be against the constitution.

Asked about the possibility that US troops accompanying local forces might be ambushed by the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, Detoyato said: “That’s part of (being a soldier) but that element is from zero to nil.”

About 660 US soldiers will take part in the training but only about 120 to 160 members of the US elite Special Forces will actually go out with local soldiers into Basilan island, where the Abu Sayyaf extremists have been holding a US missionary couple hostage for eight months.

The deployment of the Americans on Basilan, a rugged island of mountains, forests and steep ravines about three times the size of Singapore, marks the most significant expansion of the United States war on terrorism, after Aghanistan.

Washington has linked the Abu Sayyaf to the Al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden.

The deployment of the US forces on Basilan, 900km south of Manila, marks the first significant military involvement of the United States in the Philippines since the closure of the last US military base in the former US colony in 1992, which ended almost a century of US military presence.

That relationship was at times warm and fraternal, while at other times it was marked by diplomatic feuds over perceived US high-handedness and alleged intrusion in domestic affairs.

As a result of the colonial experience, the Philippines has adopted a new constitution barring foreign combat troops unless organised under a formal treaty.

About 6,000 Filipino troops launched massive operations against the Abu Sayyaf on Basilan last June. About 50 soldiers and more than 100 guerrillas have been killed in periodic clashes.

Under the training programme, officials said teams of two or three Americans will join a company of Philippine soldiers — about 90 men — when they go on patrol.

“They will not go as units but as individuals to observe our units so they would know what other types of training and what types of equipment are needed to make the training effective,” Detoyato said.

The actual patrols will be preceded by class-room lectures which would then be validated with sorties into Basilan’s forbidding jungles, where the forests are so thick that you could be five metres away from the enemy but not see them, officials said.

Detoyato said preparations for the formal start of the exercises are in final stages and that the main body of trainers were expected to arrive within the next three days.

Only Communists oppose drills: Arroyo

MANILA: Popular support for US troops joining Filipino soldiers in anti-terrorist military operations is overwhelming, with communists the only dissenters, President Gloria Arroyo said yesterday.

“Our people support this wholeheartedly,” Arroyo told Bombo Radio here in an interview.

“Only a few people object to their presence, particularly the communists.”

Leftist groups have warned against escalating the US military presence to wage war on a 33-year old communist insurgency.

Arroyo insisted yesterday that even the Muslim-populated communities in the south, such as the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Basilan, “welcome” the US presence as “they hope for deliverance from the Abu Sayyaf”.

Leftist groups have been staging tiny but frequent street protests over the US deployments. Some of the protests have been directed at the US embassy here, where attempts to deface the crest outside the mission have led to scuffles with riot police.

Earlier yesterday, a senior Arroyo aide challenged the leftists to take their case to the Supreme Court instead of burning American flags.

National Security Adviser Roilo said the justice department has issued its position that the six-month joint US-Philippines training exercises are covered by a bilateral treaty.

“If they’re very confident about their position then they should go there (Supreme Court),” Golez said over ABS-CBN television here. “It’s not resolved by burning the flag of a friendly country or by hurling invectives at the embassy of a friendly country.”

__________________________________________________________________________
January 29, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo seeks British help to fight terror
Tue, 02:12:59

January 29, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Burnham sister pleads for couple’s release
Tue, 02:13:56

January 30, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Joint manoeuvres to start tomorrow
Wed, 01:06:08

January 30, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Crashed robotic plane found off Mindanao
Wed, 01:06:29
_________________________________________________________________________

January 30, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Israeli tourist killed in Philippine resort
Wed, 01:06:53

MANILA: The Philippines plans to deploy some 1,000 policemen in key tourist spots after the murder of an Israeli visitor at a famous island resort, Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon said yesterday.

The move to step up security for tourists comes as US troops prepare for a joint military exercise in southern Philippines as part of Washington’s first significant expansion of its war against terrorism.

The exercise is due to start in a few days.

Gordon said the 26-year old Israeli tourist was stabbed to death while walking with his girlfriend on the beach at the island resort of Boracay in central Philippines on Sunday.

“These tourists have been there for the last two months... A third party was involved,” he told Reuters by phone.

He said police had picked up several men for questioning. The killing came immediately after a regional tourism conference in Indonesia where Southeast Asian ministers insisted their countries were safe for travel.

Gordon said some of the 1,000 policemen would be posted at tourist spots within the first half of the year, including Boracay which is one of the country’s top tourist destinations.

He said the country aimed to attract some two million foreign tourists this year, up from 1.8 million in 2001.

Gordon said arrivals fell some five percent last year due to worries over Muslim militancy and the political turmoil before and after the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada.

The Philippines has long battled Islamic militants in the south and one group, the Abu Sayyaf, suspected by the United States of having links to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network, is holding a US missionary couple hostage for months after kidnapping them from Palawan island in southwest Philippines.

________________________________________________________________________


January 31, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Bush’s statement on anti-terror war 'disturbs' Philippine senators,
Thu, 01:42:11

MANILA: The Philippines welcomes a US offer to help it fight Muslim militants but will not be forced by Washington to act against its national interest, the nation’s top defence official said on Wednesday.

“We are not going to allow the United States to impose its will on us and ... be coerced into doing anything against our national interest,” Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes told House of Representatives’ hearings on US-Philippine military exercises against terrorism which are scheduled to start today.

“They have their interest to protect and will do everything to pursue it. We will do everything to pursue ours,” he said.

Reyes had been asked by committee members for his reaction to US President George W Bush’s State of the Union address in which he said Washington was willing to assist other countries unearth terrorists and added: “If they do not act, America will.”

Some committee members found Bush’s statement “disturbing” as it could infringe upon Philippine sovereignty.

As for where the war on terrorism goes next, Bush did not identify countries except to point out US forces were helping train armed forces in the Philippines to go after Islamic militants which the country has been battling for decades.

The House hearings canvassed the constitutional grounds for the presence of US troops in the southern Philippines, a divisive issue for the country which was once under the colonial rule of the United States.

About 600 US soldiers are to take part in exercises.

Some of the exercises will take place on Basilan island, about 900kms south of Manila. It is a base for Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, who Washington has linked to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.

Critics of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo have slammed the the US presence as a violation of the constitution, which bars foreign combat troops unless under a formal treaty.

Around 200 people rallied outside the US embassy in Manila yesterday and demanded the pull out of US troops.

Arroyo has repeatedly said the US forces would only act as trainers and not front-line fighters — a line echoed by Reyes.

“Republic of the Philippines troops will do the fighting. The Americans will be there to watch and observe what is going on and provide an assessment as to where we are strong and where we are weak. They are there not for combat operations,” Reyes said.

A final draft of the terms for the exercises, which was presented to the committee, stated: “US exercise participants shall not engage in combat operations except in self defence.”

The draft said the exercises would be consistent with the constitution, and in accordance with United Nation resolutions against global terrorism and the provisions of the Philippines-US Visiting Forces Agreement._________________________________________________________________________

January 31, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, American feared dead in ambush,
Thu, 01:45:59

SAN FERNANDO, Philippines: An American was feared dead and his German companion wounded yesterday when unidentified gunmen ambushed them while they were trekking on Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, police said.

“They were ambushed, shot at by unidentified armed men within Mount Pinatubo,” a police report said.

Regional police spokesman Colonel Amado Paneda said that police were informed of the incident yesterday by a friend of the two who said the German sent him text messages through his mobile phone.

“According to the text message, the American was killed,” Paneda said.

Police said they were verifying reports that the 42-year-old American and 52-year-old German were residents of Angeles City in the Pampanga province.

In June last year, a group of American Navy personnel taking part in joint military exercises were fired on by armed gunmen on the slopes of Mount Pinatubo. The gunmen were believed to be communists. Police regional director Reynaldo Berroya told reporters he had sent a helicopter and a rescue team to the area to verify the reports.

“We hope our team would find them soon,” he said, adding Philippine helicopters were not equipped to fly at night.

The ambush of the American and German occurred as US troops open a new front in the war on terrorism here today with the launch of an operation designed to bolster the Philippine military in its fight against Muslim guerrillas linked to Al Qaeda.

“Every American soldier that is here is a volunteer and they’re excited about the opportunity to help our long-term allies, the Philippines,” said the overall commander of the 600-member US contingent, Brigadier General Donald Wurster.

“We’re looking forward with our counterparts to do something worthwhile.”

The six-month campaign aims to crush the Abu Sayyaf, which holds two American Christian missionaries hostage on the southern island of Basilan.

But the soldiers will be operating in a region where other Muslim separatist groups hold sway. Communist guerrillas meanwhile warned the Americans faced attack if they strayed in areas where the Maoist New People’s Army (NPA) operates.

“If this military intervention escalates, we will resist it because the Abu Sayyaf is not the real target,” NPA leader Gregorio Rosal told local radio.

Despite the build-up, US military spokeswoman Major Cynthia Teramae said joint field operations in the Basilan jungle were still some distance away.

Initial cooperation would focus on training, with the development of nightime operating capabilities a key goal.

“My understanding is the Armed Forces of the Philippines does not have the capability to fight at night,” she said. “If we are able to share the opportunity to include flying helicopters at night, that would give you the upper hand.”

The importance Washington attaches to the operation was underlined by US President George W Bush in his State of the Union address yesterday.

While the most visible military action is in Afghanistan, “we now have troops in the Philippines helping to train that country’s armed forces to go after terrorist cells that have executed an American and still hold hostages.”

Arroyo insists US troops will not fight

OTTAWA: Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, on a two-day visit to Canada beginning yesterday, reiterated that US troops about to begin a new front in its war on terrorism in the Philippines will not be fighting.

“Right now, we are about to begin joint military exercises the way we do them every year except this time the module is concerned on the battle against terrorism.”

“They (Filipino forces) will do the fighting, not the American soldiers — certainly their capability will be enhanced with additional training, additional technical assistance, additional material and additional intelligence fusion” with the US forces, she said.

Macapagal-Arroyo, who arrived in Ottawa early yesterday with a 25-strong delegation, discussed terrorism, bilateral trade, education and cooperation in a private meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

“The Philippines stands clearly with Canada in a common determination to address the problem of terrorism and poverty,” she said at a press briefing here.

Her visit also coincided with the signing of six agreements between Canada and the Philippines, which are aimed at helping small and medium enterprises in the Philippines, improving government efficiency and lending support to judicial reforms among other aims.

__________________________________________________

February 2, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila ups security for US citizens,

Sat, 03:53:44

February 3, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Communist rebels threaten US troops,
Sun, 01:34:52

February 4, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, More US troops to join exercises,
Mon, 01:46:29

February 5, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Milf warned against attacks on US troops,
Tue, 01:55:09
_____________________________________________________________________________

February 6, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Court intervenes in row over US troops,
Wed, 12:53:13

MANILA: The Philippine Supreme Court yesterday ordered the government to justify the presence of US troops in the country to help Filipinos fight Muslim guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.

The directive effectively meant that the issue of whether or not American soldiers could play a role in combating terrorism in this former US colony would now be decided in court.

The arrival of US troops in the southern Philippines last month marked the most significant expansion of the US’ war on terror from Afghanistan.

The court gave the presidential palace and the Department of Defence 10 days to answer a petition by two lawyers questioning the legality of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s decision to allow the US troops into the country.

The two opposing lawyers, including a former president of a national lawyers association, said the US military presence violates a provision in the Philippine constitution barring foreign combat troops from the country, except under a formal treaty.

“To unleash American GI’s ... even under the cover of expanding the US-led war against global terror in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, is not only an unmitigated insult against the Filipino soldier but a negation of our self-respect as a people and a mockery of the Philippine constitution,” the lawyers said.

They said the government could not invoke Manila’s mutual defence treaty with Washington because the pact applied only to external aggression while the Abu Sayyaf was purely a domestic peace and order problem.

Meanwhile, the largest Muslim separatist group in the Philippines was asked yesterday to demarcate its territories to avoid clashes with US and Filipino troops pursuing another Muslim guerilla group.

Some leaders of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) have warned they would fire on US soldiers who enter their zones of influence.

A government panel laying the groundwork for peace talks with the Milf would tell the Front to “have safety measures” to avoid the entry of US forces into their territories, chief government peace negotiator Eduardo Ermita said.

This would include setting markers on the ground to designate their areas and “coordination between (Philippine) field commanders and Milf field commanders to make sure that they will not let the Abu Sayyaf enter their territories while they are being pursued by the armed forces,” he said.

“They should take precautions so they don’t get run over,” Ermita said, adding that the government and the Milf would meet on the matter in the southern Philippine city of Cotabato on Monday.

Amnesty intervenes

The Amnesty International said yesterday that the joint anti-terror campaign could lead to increased human rights violations in the troubled region.

Previous military operations in the south against Muslim guerrillas have often been accompanied by “persistent reports of human rights violations,” including alleged indiscriminate bombings of villages and the killing of civilians mistakenly tagged as Abu Sayyaf gunmen, the group said.

With the launching last week of joint training exercises in the south, “the need for watchfulness has intensified,” Amnesty said in a statement released here.

“Though largely hidden in a context of armed conflict, communal tension, violent crime and kidnapping, reports of torture and other human rights violations persist,” it said.

Rebels renew ransom demand for captives

MANILA: Philippine Muslim Abu Sayyaf gunmen have renewed their demand for a two-million-dollar ransom for the release of two US hostages, a local television network said yesterday.

The demand was contained in four letters written by Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sabaya to his brother, copies of which were obtained by ABS-CBN television.

American Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, and a Filipina nurse, Deborah Yap, are the last of dozens of hostages seized by the gunmen in a kidnapping spree that began in May last year.

US troops last week launched joint operations with their Filipino counterparts to crush the rebels, who have beheaded a third American, Guillermo Sobero, as well as more than a dozen Filipino hostages.

According to ABS-CBN, the letters written in a local Muslim dialect also indicated that previous attempts to arrange a ransom payment for the release of the Americans had failed. The television network said it had obtained the letter from a source close to Abu Sabaya.

“The Abu Sayyaf will not release their captives, Martin and Gracia Burnham, unless ransom is paid for their freedom,” the network reported.

It was not clear why the letters were sent to Sabaya’s brother. The letters did not carry any demands for the release of Yap. The military said they were checking the veracity of the report.

In the footage shot in November, Martin Burnham showed a chain he said was being used to restrain him at night.__________________________________________________________________________

February 7, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US troops prepared for risks: General,
Thu, 01:44:45

February 9, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Five killed as gunmen ambush army patrol,
Sat, 02:01:44

February 10, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Foreign scribes face kidnap threat: Army,
Sun, 01:25:59

February 11, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Korean's abductors seek halt to pursuit,
Mon, 02:08:43

February 11, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops bombard Abu Sayyaf lair,
Monday, 02:07

February 12, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US risks attack from regrouping rebels,
Tue, 02:09:36

February 13, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Air strikes kill 10 Sayyaf rebels,
Wed, 02:39:39

February 14, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine~ US sign pact to crush rebels,
Thu, 01:20:08

February 16, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US soldiers move into Sayyaf bastion,
Sat, 02:30:39

February 17, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US military reiterates resolve to fight terror,
Sun, 01:44:23

February 17, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Five killed~ 48 hurt as blasts rock Philippines,
Sun, 02:30:36

February 18, 2002, The P. Qatar, Elite Green Berets carry 'Liberate the Oppressed’' battle cry to rebel lair,
Mon, 01:47:09

February 18, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US 'trainer' soldiers deployed on Basilan,
Mon, 01:50:34

February 19, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US forces to mount night air patrols,
Tue, 02:17:51

February 20, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Air force copters hit Abu Sayyaf targets,
Wednesday, 02:18

February 21, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops capture five Sayyaf gunmen,
Thu, 02:17:36

February 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Master sergeant bids farewell to the fallen comrades with roses...,
Mon, 01:44:54

February 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, No survivors from fallen chopper: US,
Mon, 01:46:04

February 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Asean~ EU experts discuss waging war against 'sea terrorism',
Tue, 09:53:15

February 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US investigators expected today,
Tue, 09:55:52

February 27, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops clash with Sayyaf gunmen
Wed, 01:03:40

February 28, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US flies in copters and investigators,
Thu, 01:16:47

______________________________________________________________________________

March 2, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila to hold spy chiefs’ summit,
Sat, 01:09:12

April 1, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US spy plane crashes off Zamboanga,
Mon, 02:43:16

May 1, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Police kill four Sayyaf guerrillas in clash,
Wed, 12:27:39

June 1, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Top Sayyaf rebel nabbed on Basilan,
Sat, 07:47:40

June 1, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US bounty offer opens floodgates of clues on Sayyaf,
Sat, 07:48:01

June 3, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US~ Philippines moot anti-terror tactics,
Mon, 12:44:19

June 3, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo urged to extend US presence on Basilan,
Mon, 12:45:15

June 4, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US troops to move ahead in manhunt,
Tue, 01:01:14

June 8, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US missionary killed in botched rescue bid,
Sat, 03:25:26

August 1, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Anti-terror drive a success: US,
Thu, 01:52:10

August 3, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Powell to hold talks with Arroyo,
Sat, 02:02:49

August 4, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Powell hails Philippines’ anti-terror efforts,
Sun, 02:19:14

August 5, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops capture seven Sayyaf militants,
Mon, 03:03:41

August 7, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, US set to resume anti-Sayyaf drive,
Wed, 02:11:38

August 8, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Leftists declare war against Arroyo govt,
Thu, 06:17:46

August 12, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Seven injured in clash with Sayyaf militants,
Mon, 01:27:28

August 12, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Blacklisting of Marxists not to effect talks plan,
Mon, 01:28:22

August 14, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines~ US agree to coordinate military policy~ says Pentagon,
Wed, 02:12:27

August 18, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo says people have faith in campaign against terror,
Sun, 01:59:58

August 21, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Abu Sayyaf still dangerous~ says military,
Wednesday, 06:34

August 22, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Sayyaf rebels kidnap six Filipinos,
Thu, 07:42:30

August 24, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Army chief takes charge of campaign against kidnapping,
Sat, 01:50:34

August 24, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Troops shell Sayyaf lair; give ultimatum,
Sat, 03:10:23

August 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Government steps up security in Jolo,
Sun, 02:39:27

August 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, 20 killed in Philippine bus crash,
Mon, 02:08:29

August 26, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Kidnappers demand military pullout,
Mon, 02:12:28

August 27, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Ultimatum to Sayyaf rebels ends today,
Tue, 06:27:36

August 28, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops hunt for kidnappers; one militant killed in clashes,
Wed, 01:54:58

August 29, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, No more talks with kidnappers: Arroyo,
Thu, 01:14:36

August 31, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Rebel killed as hostage crisis continues,
Sat, 12:42:33

September 5, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Military launches ‘end game’ against militants,
Thu, 02:03:43

September 8, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines on red alert for possible 9/11 attacks,
Sun, 01:25:02

September 10, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Security beefed up at railways~ ports in Manila,
Tue, 12:24:23

September 10, 2002, Peninsula Qatar, More blood will flow in fight against rebels~ says Philippine army,
Tue, 12:24:57

September 10, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippines ready to support US: Officials,
Tue, 12:26:04

September 11, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Quran recital competition,
Wed, 02:14:11

September 14, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Philippine troops kill 17 rebels,
Sat, 02:39:40

September 15, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila not to back Iraq attack without UN nod,
Sun, 01:26:13

September 16, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Ransom demand for Philippine teachers,
Mon, 12:25:51

September 21, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Hussin urges ARMM people to change ways,
Sat, 01:49:12

September 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Manila set to bomb new rebel camps,
Wednesday, 12:59

September 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Chinese minister set for Manila talks,
Wednesday, 12:59

September 25, 2002, The Peninsula Qatar, Arroyo battling to reverse dropping popularity: Spokesman,
Wednesday, 12:57
____________________________________________________________________