US troops get popular support in troubled South

LAMITAN, Basilan (AFP) - American troops deployed in the southern Philippines have become heroes to the local people — without firing a single shot in combat.

Washington had deployed more than 1,000 US soldiers to train and assist the local army against Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in an extension of the "war on terror," but they were not allowed to join combat patrols in the rebel stronghold of Basilan island.

Residents here say the US presence has given them a sense of security following a rash of kidnappings by the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas notorious for beheading Christian captives and allegedly linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.

The gunmen have retreated to their jungle lairs after President Arroyo ordered a final push when a yearlong hostage crisis led to the deaths of US Christian missionary Martin Burnham and a Filipina nurse.

Although the US troops are due to pack their bags by the end of July, local officials are asking Mrs. Arroyo to extend their stay.

Wahab Akbar, governor of the impoverished mostly Muslim Basilan island, said relative peace had returned to the area when the Americans landed in January.

Akbar said he had sent a request to the presidential palace to allow the US troops to stay beyond their six-month tour of duty.

"It is supported by all sectors," Akbar said.

"We see the situation is improving with the presence of the American forces," said Father Cirilo Nacorda, parish priest of Basilan’s Lamitan town which was besieged by the rebels last year.

The mayor of Zamboanga city, which hosts the military’s southern command and is the staging base for the exercises, echoed the views.

"The people are hoping. They want (the American deployment) to be extended," said Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat.

She said activists who stage almost daily protests in Manila against the US presence, "don’t understand because they don’t know what it is like here with the Abu Sayyaf."

Maj. Richard Sater, spokesman for US forces in the South, said the troops had been warmly received.

"We have the support of the local residents here. We are being greeted every morning by the people and we appreciate the hospitality that they are showing to us," he said as he toured US infrastructure projects in the south.

More than 1,000 US troops are deployed in the south, most of them training and advising local soldiers in hunting the Abu Sayyaf.

About 340 US military engineers are working on infrastructure projects aimed at helping communities and speeding up the hunt for the Abu Sayyaf.

While the Americans have brought in advanced equipment and modern combat techniques, many people say their very presence has deterred the Abu Sayyaf from launching new attacks.

"Once the Americans came, the Abu Sayyaf fled. They are afraid of the US troops," a schoolteacher in Basilan said.

"Even if they are not fighting, we know they are here," said Lobregat, crediting the US presence for reinvigorating her city which had suffered following a spate of bomb blasts and Abu Sayyaf threats.

Aside from providing security, Lobregat said money spent by US troops and their government had helped the local economy.

The road and water projects the Americans are building on Basilan has further boosted their popularity.

Unlike Philippine soldiers, the US troops are not tainted with a history of failures against the Abu Sayyaf.

Philippine soldiers failed to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from escaping with a group of US and Filipino hostages from a hospital compound in Lamitan town in June 2001.

After months of setbacks, Filipino troops on June 7 this year managed to recover the last of the hostages, American missionary Gracia Burnham but her fellow captives, husband Martin and Filipina nurse Edibora Yap, were killed in the rescue operation.

When Yap was buried in Lamitan last week, it was American soldiers - not Filipinos, who acted as her pall bearers.