Top Bush adviser arriving

One of US President George W. Bush’s most trusted advisers will be in Manila this week for meetings with President Arroyo and other Philippine officials.

As under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, Karen Hughes is in charge of improving US image abroad amid the war on terror.

Her official biography said she is in charge of promoting American values and confronting ideological support for terrorism around the world.

Hughes will be in the country for three days from Wednesday, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney told The STAR. Hughes will visit Sulu, where American troops are helping the Philippine military in the fight against terrorists.

Kenney said the war on terror is expected to be discussed during Hughes’ meeting with President Arroyo.

Hughes is arriving a week after Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Solaiman was killed in an encounter with Philippine troops in Talipao, Sulu.

The other day, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that four-month-old remains unearthed last month in Patikul, Sulu were those of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani.

Each Abu Sayyaf leader had a $5-million bounty offered by Washington. Kenney said her government is preparing to hand over the money to those who provided information leading to the fatal encounters.

US Embassy Press AttachÈ Matthew Lussenhop said Hughes’ visit was planned way ahead of the developments involving the Abu Sayyaf leaders.

He said Hughes would visit China before coming to Manila and then returning to Washington.

Hughes, 50, was part of the White House Iraq Group, the secretive task force formed in 2002 that worked on persuading Americans that Saddam Hussein posed a serious threat to US security.

A broadcast journalist before joining the government, she helped Bush write his 1999 memoir A Charge to Keep.

Hughes has been with Bush since 1995, serving as his director of communications when he was governor of Texas.

In 2004, she published her own book about her years in the White House, Ten Minutes from Normal. She was counselor to the US president from 2001 to 2002.

In July 2002, she left the government but is said to have remained in daily contact with Bush throughout his re-election campaign.

Bush announced his plan to appoint Hughes to her current post in March 2005. She was confirmed by the US Senate in July and was sworn in on Sept. 9 that year.

On Sept. 26, she embarked on her first overseas trip to win hearts and minds for her government, starting with the Middle East.

It will be her first visit to Manila, where the US Embassy wants to shift the focus of the annual Balikatan joint military exercises between the two countries from military training to humanitarian efforts.

Hughes oversees three bureaus at the Department of State: educational and cultural affairs, public affairs, and international information program.