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January 18, 2002, AFP, US troops visit Philippine hostage island,

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January 18, 2002, AFP, US troops visit Philippine hostage island,
3:42 pm

American troops flew into the southern Philippines ahead of joint operations to eliminate Abu Sayyaf rebels holding two Americans and a Filipina nurse hostage there, officials said.

The visit to Basilan island, just off this southern city of Zamboanga, comes amid heated debate within President Gloria Arroyo's government over the legality of involving US forces in the prolonged hostage crisis.

Regional military spokesman Major Noel Detoyato said that an undisclosed number of US troops flew into Basilan by helicopter on Thursday where they met with local commanders and logistics officers.

The visit would set the stage for further deployments of US soldiers.

The Americans also visited a temporary barracks for US and Filipino troops who will be deployed in Basilan ostensibly for joint-military exercises but which will involve drills against the Abu Sayyaf.

The Americans have since returned to Zamboanga City where more US troops are expected to arrive in the coming weeks for the joint military exercises which will last for six months.

Abu Sayyaf guerrillas meanwhile, clashed with government forces on Friday in a forested area of Basilan, police reports said. However there were no reports of any casualties in the latest skirmish.

The joint operations are part of Washington's worldwide campaign against terrorism, which started with the routing of Afghanistan's Taliban regime and the dismantling of the al-Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the United States

The Abu Sayyaf, Muslim fundamentalists with links to al-Qaeda, has been kidnapping foreigners and Christians for ransom in the southern Philippines for years.

Their current hostages, American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina nurse Deborah Yap, are the remnants of the latest hostage taking spree launched in May.

The Philippine government has suffered international embarrassment for its failure to quash the group and rescue their captives despite almost eight months of hunting by local forces.

The Abu Sayyaf have freed some of their earlier hostages, reportedly in exchange for ransom, but have also killed one American captive, Californian Guillermo Sobero, and over a dozen Filipinos.

In Manila, however Arroyo has come under fire for allegedly violating the constitution by allowing foreign troops to operate in this country.

She has called a session of the National Security Council (NSC), which includes opposition leaders, for next week to secure wide support for the US deployment and the operations against the Abu Sayyaf, her spokesman, Rigoberto Tiglao said.

Arroyo's Vice-President, Teofisto Guingona, who is also concurrent foreign secretary, has questioned the US deployment and in a radio interview Friday, said he would "clarify and express my opinion" on the matter in the NSC meeting.

"I fully support President Gloria Arroyo in the objective of rescuing the remaining hostages against the Abu Sayyaf," said Guingona. However he made no mention of supporting the US involvement.

Tiglao clarified that the objective of joint operations was for the Americans to train the Filipino troops in counter-terrorism with the Abu Sayyaf as incidental targets.

"The point of the exercise is not the rescue of the Burnham couple. But if we achieved that... that is fine with us," Tiglao said.

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