US troops won’t be tapped to rescue Burnhams — GMA

Malacañang ruled out yesterday any combat operations for visiting American military advisers, saying they were just here to train Filipino troops for the fight against Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

A special camp has been set up in Zamboanga City where the Americans could train a light reaction force from the Philippine military.

"The President firmly believes that they (US advisers) should not be armed, or their deployment would fall into a gray area that they can be classified as foreign troops on Philippine soil," Tiglao said.

A team of US military advisers flew into Zamboanga City on Saturday amid reports that they would join combat operations to rescue American couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, both Christian missionaries from Wichita, Kansas, who were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf last May from the upscale Dos Palmas resort in Palawan.

The abductors beheaded in June a third American hostage, Guillermo Sobero from Corona, California, as an "Independence Day gift" to the government.

The US has so far sent two batches of military advisers to Mindanao since last month, when President Arroyo secured a commitment from US President George W. Bush to help destroy the Abu Sayyaf.

The guerrillas style themselves as freedom fighters struggling for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao, but they have gained notoriety for mass kidnapping for ransom, bombings and other terrorist acts.

The Abu Sayyaf has also been linked to the al-Qaeda terror network of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington and New York.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said the government expects additional US material support for the Philippine military in fighting the Abu Sayyaf.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, commander of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command, ruled out ransom negotiations for the Burnhams as he reiterated that the government’s no-ransom policy remained in force.

Cimatu said the troops have been closing in on the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers in the jungles of Basilan.

"I just can’t give any further details but we are very near (the Abu Sayyaf)," Cimatu said, adding that the hostages were in good physical condition.

Citing intelligence reports, Cimatu said the Burnhams and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap were not injured in last Friday’s firefight that left at least 11 Abu Sayyaf gunmen killed.

In another development, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) dared the President to order an impartial investigation into allegations that some military officials in Mindanao received part of the ransom to the Abu Sayyaf paid by the family of Reghis Romero II.

CBCP spokesman Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III said the Arroyo administration should stop coddling corrupt military officials working in cahoots with the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers.

"Up to now, the government is having difficulty to order an investigation on the military," Quitorio said. "But everybody knows why they have this difficulty. We don’t have to tell the public that." – Paolo Romero, Christina Mendez, Sandy Araneta