US: No specific threat vs Bush during visit

The United States government has not received any "specific" threats against US President George W. Bush, who is set to visit Manila on Oct. 18.

However, the US government is taking no chances with Bush’s safety, as it expressed grave concerns yesterday over the presence of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant network in Mindanao and warned that Filipino Muslim separatists risk losing millions in development aid if they did not cut links to foreign terrorists.

US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone said his government has established that JI may have set up terrorist cells in Mindanao, where the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) also operates.

Ricciardone declined to give further details on the JI network in Mindanao, though he stressed his government has received no direct threat to Bush.

MILF chief Hashim Salamat had, before his death in July, written a letter to Bush to express the MILF’s commitment to peacefully resolve their 35-year rebellion, the ambassador told a Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) forum.

"If and when his successors can come to terms with the government of the Philippines to build peace and development in Mindanao for the future of its children after a generation of war and lawlessness, the United States... will proudly support that development process," Ricciardone said.

"But we cannot underestimate the challenges here. A meaningful peace must go beyond nice words, whether on paper or press conference," he said.

"The US will not provide economic development assistance in areas controlled by the MILF if that organization maintains ties to outlaws, terrorists, in violation of the written testimony of chairman Salamat in his last days," he added.

He said Washington was "particularly concerned about the continuing presence in Mindanao of JI, which has been blamed for the October (2002) bombing in Bali, Indonesia that left more than 200 people dead." — Ray Arquiza, Cecille Suerte Felipe, AFP