Arroyo meets security advisers amid Mindanao offensive

MANILA (AFP) - Philippine President Gloria Arroyo met her top security advisers Tuesday as troops continued an offensive against Islamic militants in the country's restive south, officials said.

The meeting about the operation involving more than 12,000 soldiers on Jolo and Basilan islands focused on how to achieve a lasting peace, they said.

The heavily armed soldiers, backed by helicopter gunships, are hunting members of the Abu Sayyaf, an extremist group linked to Al-Qaeda and blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines.

Arroyo urged the advisers to ensure the "protection of civilians in battle zones," according to the text of her opening statement to the National Security Council.

More than 18,000 people have been displaced by the fighting so far, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

The president also said officials should adhere strictly to "ceasefire parameters" with another, much larger guerrilla group, the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The government has stressed the military offensive is not aimed at MILF, which is holding peace talks with Manila.

"It is imperative that we all work together without selfish politicking to preserve the peace we have achieved so far and to advance it toward a final agreement and the massive development that will follow," Arroyo added.

Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, armed forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon and Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Calderon attended the meeting, as did a range of senior politicians.

An AFP photographer said there were no clashes around Patikul town, one of the main staging areas for the military operation on Jolo, but that the situation was uneasy.

Local media reported Tuesday that Teodoro and ranking military officials had visited several provinces in western Mindanao to talk with MILF peace panel members.

They also met with representatives of the Moro National Liberation Front, which is party to a 1996 peace treaty with Manila, and an international team of ceasefire monitors led by Malaysia, according to the reports.

Discussions were held with local government officials about the welfare of civilians caught up by the military offensive, the reports added.

Teodoro said Monday that the government was focused on preserving peace talks with the MILF and MNLF, but that there would be no let up in the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.