US general back in town to prepare for new exercise

ZAMBOANGA CITY (AFP) — An American general arrived in the southern Philippines in preparation for the deployment of 200 US soldiers for anti-terror training, spokesmen said Saturday.

Brigadier General Donald Wurster, commander of the Hawaii-based Special Operations Command-Pacific, flew in late Friday, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero.

He will give a briefing later on the arrival this month of 200 US troops who will train local soldiers in and around Zamboanga to form light reaction units for pursuing Muslim groups such as the Abu Sayyaf kidnapping band, Lucero said.

The US soldiers will arrive in batches over the coming weeks, with tight security clamped to prevent any Abu Sayyaf attacks.

Wurster will also visit some 280 US soldiers who have been staying in Zamboanga for months to oversee humanitarian activities as part of the improved defense relations.

This is separate from even larger joint military exercises to be carried out in the northern Philippines later this year.

Last year, more than 1,000 US troops were sent to the South to train and advise Philippine soldiers in hunting the Abu Sayyaf, the group linked by both countries to the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden. — With Roel Pareño