American troops' involvement in the Philippines' struggle against Muslim rebels will likely last months, not years, but would help wipe out the extremists, the US commander-in-chief for the Pacific said today.
Admiral Dennis Blair said the 600 US troops joining a Philippine-US military exercise on the southern island of Mindanao were only to assist Manila in anti-terrorist training to fight the Abu Sayyaf rebels, which Washington has linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
"This is a new type of activity for all of us, so it's impossible to set a nice, neat timetable for the operation," Mr Blair said. "But I anticipate our involvement in the Philippines will be in months, not in years."
The first phase of the mission that began this week is to last six months, but could be extended.
He said he was confident the joint exercises would help wipe out the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, which claims to be fighting for an Islamic homeland in the southern Philippines but pursues kidnap-for-ransom as its main activity.
"It is in the center of our crosshairs now," Mr Blair said. "I think it will be a good combining of strengths and we will be successful in eliminating this Abu Sayyaf group."
Mr Blair was speaking at a briefing in Hanoi three days after a US plane was fired on in the northern Philippines.
He declined to speculate who might have been responsible for Wednesday's attack.
Shots narrowly missed a crew member of the transport plane carrying US troops, who were taking part in a separate exercise over Luzon island in an area where the Abu Sayyaf is not known to operate. No one was hurt in the attack.
Mr Blair, who is based in Hawaii, is in Vietnam on the third stop of a five-nation regional tour that takes him to Japan later today. He previously visited Malaysia and Singapore and is to end his trip in South Korea.
The landing of US troops in the southern Philippines sparked demonstrations in Manila yesterday, with protesters arguing their presence violates the constitution of the former US colony.