US vows more aid to Philippines anti-militant fight
By Manny Mogato
MANILA, June 1 (Reuters) - Washington has offered to provide more assistance to the Philippines, one of its closest security partners in Asia, to build capacity to defeat Islamic militants, Manila's defence chief said on Monday.
Since 2002, about 300 U.S. commandos have been stationed in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic nation to train, advise and assist Philippine troops fighting a small group of Muslim rebels with ties to regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah.
The United States and the Philippines also planned to hold an annual strategic defence dialogue to discuss common security concerns as well as regional issues, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters after talks with his U.S. counterpart Robert Gates.
Teodoro said the military's top two commanders in the south also briefed Gates on the humanitarian and tactical activities of U.S. and Philippine forces on the islands of Jolo and Basilan.
"The increase in kidnapping incidents in the south was spoken about," Teodoro told reporters after sending off Gates at an air force base. Gates made a four-hour visit to the Philippines on his way back home from the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. [ID:nSP406809]
"He offered to assist us in training and other things in order to deal with this threat," Teodoro said, but did not give details on Washington's future plans.
Speaking to reporters in Manila, Gates said the United States "will not relent until this threat has been eliminated".
"We are partners and we'll continue to strongly support their efforts to defeat terrorists and extremists threatening their country and the region," Gates told reporters after a hamburger meal with U.S. troops based in the Philippines.
Washington has provided Manila with more than $500 million in security assistance since 2000 after the two countries signed a status of forces agreement allowing U.S. troops to return to the Philippines for training.
The U.S. shut down two of its largest overseas military bases after a 1947 military basing agreement was terminated by the Philippine Senate.
In an earlier news conference, Gates said the U.S. military has been learning valuable lessons from successful regional security cooperations in Southeast Asia, particularly in guarding the Strait of Malacca against pirates' attacks.
"I think that the progress that Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore have made in recent years in dealing with the piracy problem in the Strait of Malacca, in many respects is a model we would like to see happen in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa," Gates said.
"We have been pleased to help these countries in terms of maritime surveillance and equipment as we are trying to work with other countries off the Horn of Africa."
Piracy incidents in Southeast Asia had gone done in the last few years compared to those in Somalia, affecting shipping routes in the Gulf of Aden. (Editing by Jerry Norton)
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