January 18, 2002, AFP, Ceasefire Muslim rebels agree not to attack US troops in Philippines,

January 18, 2002, AFP, Ceasefire Muslim rebels agree not to attack US troops in Philippines,
3:06 pm

Muslim separatist rebels engaged in peace talks with Manila on Friday said they would not attack American troops on joint exercises with Filipinos in the southern Philippines.

Nearly 700 US soldiers, including special forces, are expected to arrive in the southern city of Zamboanga by next month.

They will engaged in training exercises with some 1,200 Filipino soldiers but would also be joining troops in forays to nearby Basilan island, where Muslim Abu Sayyaf gunmen are holding hostage an American couple and a Filipina nurse.

US soldiers would only act as observers, but will be armed and are allowed to return fire under attack, officials said.

"They (American soldiers) are not our enemies," Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesman Eid Kabalu told AFP.

"The pronouncement of Malacanang (the presidential palace) is that if the Americans ever use their arms, it would be trained on the Abu Sayyaf.

"We are assuring them we will not attack US troops."

Kabalu said Manila had assured them the Americans would not be "directly involved in combat fighting" and that the target was the Abu Sayyaf and not the MILF.

However, he also noted that the 12,500-strong MILF has camps scattered in some remote areas in Basilan and that a potential mis-encounter could occur between their forces and Filipino soldiers accompanied by US soldiers.

"We will maintain our defensive mode," Kabalu said. "We will return fire if attacked, that is basic. But we hope we will not come to that point."

The MILF is the country's main Muslim separatist group waging a 23-year rebellion for the establishment of an independent Islamic state in the southern third of this predominantly Christian country.

The group last year began peace talks with Manila and signed a ceasefire deal although sporadic skirmishes between both forces have persisted.

The military however has accused the MILF of giving sanctuary to Abu Sayyaf gunmen on the run from a massive military operation Basilan, a charge denied by the group.

Kabalu said the MILF leadership believed that President Gloria Arroyo has shown sincerity in trying to end the Muslim insurgency in the south, adding that they were optimistic the truce would continue to hold.