No extended stay for US military engineers

US military engineers, working side by side with a joint anti-terror mission in the southern Philippines, are likely to end their mission in July, a Filipino official said yesterday, downplaying suggestions they could stay on.

"The engineering projects can still be finished on time if the monsoon season will not come yet and the problem with construction materials is solved," Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio told reporters.

Teodosio had suggested on Sunday the US engineers may have to stay behind if the road and other infrastructure projects are not completed by the end of July, the deadline for the joint anti-terror operation involving some 1,000 US troops.

Some 340 US military engineers are working on infrastructure projects in the southern island of Basilan which are intended to boost operations against the Abu Sayyaf, a local Muslim kidnapping group linked to the al-Qaeda network of suspected terror mastermind, Osama bin Laden.

However, shortages of construction materials have hampered the completion of the projects.

"We’ll wrap up everything by the end of July but there are things beyond our control such as the weather," Teodosio said.

The rainy season in the Philippines starts in June and the downpours hamper road building and other construction projects.

Teodosio stressed that even if the Americans extend their stay "the US will not stay a day longer than necessary."

Leftist and opposition groups have opposed the US deployment, saying it violates the country’s sovereignty.

The Abu Sayyaf is holding US missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and a Filipina nurse, kidnapped nearly a year ago.

Meanwhile, police officials in the southern city of Zamboanga said they recovered six recoilless rifle shells in a mangrove swamp late Monday, believed left behind by an Abu Sayyaf band that was escaping pursuit. – AFP, Paolo Romero

Cobra Gold drills launched

BANGKOK (AFP) – Some 21,000 troops from Thailand, the United States and Singapore Tuesday launched military exercises which for the first time in 21 years will include anti-terrorism training.

"This year, the exercise will include a counter-terrorism scenario to be addressed by Thai and US forces," US ambassador to Thailand Darryl Johnson told the opening of the annual Cobra Gold drill.

"Multilateral exercises such as Cobra Gold are essential to help us work together to defeat those terrorists and eliminate their networks in this region and around the world."

Another 18 countries are participating as observers, up from only four two years ago. The countries are Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Fiji, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tonga and Vietnam.

The exercises are the largest involving US troops in the Asia Pacific region and have taken a year to design.

"For the past year, hundreds of American, Thai and Singaporean planners have worked together to create an exercise that provides serious military training and exposure to real-world challenges," the ambassador said at U-tapao naval base in Rayong province, 179 kilometers southeast of Bangkok.

The main focus of the 21st Cobra Gold maneuvers will be to drill military personnel from the three countries in peace enforcement, including civilian evacuation measures, the US embassy said earlier.

"The US-Thai military exercises (are) designed to ensure regional peace and strengthen the ability of the Royal Thai Armed Forces to defend Thailand or respond to regional contingencies," it said.

The exercises will take place in several provinces in central Thailand, with about 14,000 US forces and 7,700 Thai personnel, Thailand’s Supreme Command said.

A total of 105 aircraft will be involved, including 73 American and 32 Thai, as well as six ships from the US and 11 from Thailand.

Singapore, an observer to the exercise since 1993, became a full participant in 2000 and this year will send 70 military personnel.