MANILA — Amid growing criticism that the Philippine government would be acting illegally if it let U.S. troops engage in combat here, a top Muslim leader warned Saturday that the planned deployment could trigger an anti-American backlash.
"I am afraid this might be fraught with danger," said Parouk Hussin, governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. "People are very poor, but everyone owns a gun."
Pentagon officials said last week that the U.S. will send about 3,000 troops to the Philippines to help hunt down members of the Abu Sayyaf, a ruthless gang of kidnappers who style themselves Islamic militants.
Despite the Pentagon announcement, the office of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo continued to maintain Saturday that U.S. troops will not have a combat role and will serve only as trainers for Philippine soldiers.
"The bottom line here is that there will be no aggressive combat role for American troops," said presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye.
He said the news reports from the Pentagon, which were attributed to unnamed officials, were erroneous.
The Philippine Constitution prohibits foreign troops from engaging in combat in the nation. Critics of the government charge that Arroyo negotiated a secret deal with the United States in violation of the law.
Some of Arroyo's critics in Congress accused Philippine administration officials of "treason" for negotiating the agreement. Arroyo has been uncharacteristically quiet since the furor erupted three days ago.
"It's just been sneaked through like a thief in the night," said a former presidential aide who asked not to be identified. "It's been done surreptitiously, and it's even being denied by the people who have done it. It's amazing."
The United States has designated the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist group. The group's leadership had links in the mid-1990s to Osama bin Laden, but it is unclear whether any connection still exists.
The group is best known for the kidnapping of foreigners from tourist resorts, which has netted it millions of dollars in ransom payments.
In 2001, the group kidnapped three Americans, Guillermo Sobero of California and Kansas missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham. Sobero was beheaded soon after the kidnapping, but the Burnhams were held in the jungle of Basilan island for more than a year. A raid by Philippine troops freed Gracia Burnham but resulted in her husband's death.
