Bush pushes for tougher action versus Sayyaf rebels

US President George W. Bush has called for an escalation of joint operations between Philippine and American troops against the Abu Sayyaf following Friday’s death of hostages Martin Burnham and Edi-borah Yap and the wounding of Burnham’s wife Gracia.

"President Bush assured us of the continuing help of the United States in pushing the operation forward. We will forge on with greater fervor and tenacity until the Abu Sayyaf is finished," President Arroyo said in a news conference yesterday.

The extent of US participation in the bloody rescue remained unclear yesterday. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said American troops had no direct involvement in the operation or even in its planning.

"The training (of Filipino troops) was more general. It was not pointed to hostage rescue," Myers told reporters in Brussels, Belgium, where he is attending a meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, on the other hand, said Americans helped "in the planning and execution" of the mission but did not participate in the actual rescue because the Constitution prohibits foreign troops from participating in combat operations.

This was confirmed by Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis. He said under the plan, code-named Operation Daybreak, Filipinos had been pursuing the Abu Sayyaf for more than a week in the Zamboanga peninsula. Davis said Americans had no knowledge of any raid or shootout between the soldiers and the terrorists until it was over.

Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio, Philippine director of the Balikatan war games, said American troops were crucial to the rescue mission, with US surveillance equipment leading Philippine troops to the hostages. A US defense official said Americans were asked to provide evacuation support.

Reyes told journalists Friday night that as early as the first week of April, the military had already detected efforts by the Abu Sayyaf to slip out of Basilan with their hostages.

Soldiers encountered a terrorist band weeks ago on Dansalan island off Lantawan, Basilan, Reyes said. To throw off the Abu Sayyaf, the military announced that the rebels who figured in the encounter were heading for Marawi when in fact they were on their way to Zamboanga. By May, Reyes said, the military had confirmed that the main Abu Sayyaf group was in the Siraway-Sibuco complex. Operation Daybreak was then drawn up.

US surveillance equipment first detected the "unusual" movement of boats from Basilan to Zamboanga del Norte weeks ago. A naval blockade was set up, which the military downplayed by saying troops were after a splinter group of the Abu Sayyaf.

Mrs. Arroyo said Bush called her late Friday hours after the operation that left Martin and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap dead and Gracia Burnham wounded but freed.

In Washington, US Secretary Colin Powell said Mrs. Arroyo, "a staunch ally of the global war on terrorism, has expressed an unwavering determination to bring to justice or destroy the Abu Sayyaf terrorists."

"The United States stands with President Arroyo, the Armed Forces and the people of the Philippines in this just cause," he said.

Bush said that he had received assurances from Arroyo that the Abu Sayyaf would be brought to justice.

"She assured me that the Philippine government would hold the terrorist group accountable for how they treated these Americans, that justice would be done," Bush said.

There are about 1,000 American troops in the Philippines as part of the United States’ global fight against terrorism. The US contingent is the largest outside Afghanistan, where an international coalition is pursuing Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network.

The US has deployed unmanned spy planes and other surveillance technology to aid the hunt for the Abu Sayyaf, and US helicopter pilots and medics have entered combat zones several times in recent months to evacuate and treat wounded Filipinos.

On Friday, President Arroyo vowed to "finish off" the Abu Sayyaf and said they "shall not be allowed to get away with this," referring to the deaths of the two hostages and the wounding of Gracia.

The US government has issued a $5-million reward on the heads of the top five Abu Sayyaf leaders, including Khadaffy Janjalani and Aldam Tilao, alias Abu Sabaya. — With Jaime Laude, AFP