RP says planned offensive against Muslim rebels won't threaten ASEAN security

MANILA (AP) - A military operation to hunt down Muslim guerrillas responsible for beheading marines in the southern Philippines is unlikely to spark retaliation that could threaten a Southeast Asian foreign ministerial meeting in Manila, police said Tuesday.

About 2,000 troops would soon scour the jungles of Basilan island for Moro Islamic Liberation Front insurgents responsible for killing the marines as they searched for a kidnapped Italian priest, officials said.

Ten of the marines were found beheaded July 10, sparking condemnation from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the 120,000-strong military.

Military chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said the "punitive action" was aimed at capturing the insurgents involved in the attack and that troops would not launch a full-scale war against the MILF, a large Muslim rebel group engaged in Malaysian-brokered peace talks with the government.

Two marine battalions _ about 1,000 men _ were recently deployed to Basilan, along with 65 battle-ready Presidential Security Group soldiers, to join 1,000 marines already based in Basilan in the search, Esperon said.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu, however, said relatives and fellow guerrillas could carry out "sympathy strikes" elsewhere if the Basilan-based rebels came under attack. At least one rebel commander has threatened to launch attacks once the offensive starts.

Police Deputy Director-General Avelino Razon said the planned military operations in Basilan were being closely followed by officials overseeing security for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' foreign ministerial meeting later this month.

The Philippines is hosting meetings of ASEAN foreign ministers and their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea as well as the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's largest security grouping that brings together Asian and Western foreign ministers and hundreds of personnel.

"Our assessment is that these police-style operations would not affect the conduct of the ASEAN meetings," Razon told a news conference. "They aim to arrest only the perpetrators; there would be no massive war."

A 6,500-strong contingent, mostly police but including 645 military and coast guard personnel, will secure a sprawling theater and convention complex by Manila Bay where the ASEAN meetings will be held, Razon said.

Nearby roads have been closed off to traffic and special police forces have been seen rappelling down the walls of the Philippine International Convention Center during security drills.

A security assessment has pinpointed no specific threat, but troops have intensified intelligence-gathering and offensives against al-Qaida-linked militants who could try to disrupt the gatherings to embarrass the government, acting Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzalez has said.

Last December, Arroyo's government abruptly postponed a summit of 16 Asian leaders in central Cebu province, citing an incoming typhoon. But there was widespread speculation that the postponement was prompted by Western embassies' warnings that militants were preparing an attack on the summit.