US soldiers banned from patrols

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine government Monday prohibited U.S. troops from joining soldiers on combat patrols during counterterrorism exercises planned for later this year on Jolo, a southern island where Muslim militants are active.\nThe ban marks a change from last year, when American soldiers joined Filipino army units on combat patrols during similar exercises on nearby Basilan island.\nDefense Secretary Angelo Reyes said the new policy is meant to "emphasize that it will be the Filipino soldiers who should be doing the fighting."\nPhilippine officials fear U.S. troops could be drawn into skirmishes, violating a constitutional ban on foreigners fighting in the former U.S. colony.\nWhen asked whether Washington would agree to Philippine restrictions on American soldiers, Reyes said, "This exercise is being held in Philippine territories so what the government says and what the president says is what will be done."\nUnidentified Pentagon officials caused a political storm earlier this year when they said U.S. troops would engage in combat against the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group loosely linked to al Qaeda and notorious for kidnappings and killings.\nPhilippine officials quickly issued denials, but the U.S. statements led to widespread public opposition to this year's exercises, especially on Jolo, where hundreds of Filipino Muslims died fighting American colonial forces in the early 1900s.\nPresident Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the maneuvers on Jolo would focus on civic projects, intelligence cooperation and training to evacuate Filipino soldiers wounded in combat.\nThe annual exercises, called Balikatan or "shoulder to shoulder," were held on the main northern island of Luzon until last year, when the longtime allies decided to shift them to Basilan to help Filipino soldiers better fight the Abu Sayyaf.\nCounterterrorism training and weapons provided by the U.S. military last year were credited with decimating the Abu Sayyaf's main faction on predominantly Muslim Basilan. But many rebels survived a U.S.-backed Philippine offensive and moved to Jolo.\nArroyo said this month that Jolo would be the venue of this year's exercises. She said militants on Jolo have ties to terrorist cells in central Mindanao island, where a recent spate of bombings and ambushes has left hundreds of people dead and injured.