More U.S. forces arrive in Philippines as bomb blasts rip through theater, market

Saturday, February 16th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TABIAWAN, Philippines (AP) _ U.S. troops arrived in the southern Philippines amid tight security Saturday as two grenade blasts in the region warned of the dangers a growing American advisory force faces in its mission to help the military wipe out a Muslim rebel group.

The 30-40 special forces troops flew in from Okinawa, Japan, on two C-130 transport planes, the second landing on a darkened runway in Zamboanga city with even the wing-tip lights extinguished. It was unloaded with the engines running and then took off again.

The U.S. troops are joining 250 others already in Zamboanga for a six-month exercise aimed at improving the Philippine military's ability to crush the Abu Sayyaf, which U.S. officials say has ties to al-Qaida.

The guerrillas have been holding an American missionary couple on nearby Basilan island where an advance team of special forces flew by helicopter Saturday to set up camp in a Philippine army base.

One grenade exploded at dawn on Jolo, another nearby island where an Abu Sayyaf faction has a presence, killing at least five people and injuring more than 40 near a crowded public market.

Hours later, a grenade blast ripped through a movie theater in downtown Zamboanga, the region's largest city, injuring at least five people watching ``The Lord of the Rings.''

The blast was about four miles from the Philippine military's Southern Command headquarters, where the American military personnel are staying. The U.S. contingent is to grow to 660 in the coming weeks.

Philippine officials said they suspected the Abu Sayyaf, but said security is adequate and would not be increased.

Military officials from both countries said the American troops, who are permitted to use their weapons only in self-defense, are prepared to handle threats from the Abu Sayyaf as they boost their Basilan presence as part of the U.S.-led global war on terror.

``We are confident with our force-protection plan,'' said a U.S. military spokesman, Sgt. Michael Farris.

Some U.S. troops, armed with assault rifles and wearing bulletproof vests and night-vision goggles, visited three towns Saturday on Basilan, accompanied by a Philippine army company trained by U.S. special forces last year as the spearhead of the operation against the Abu Sayyaf.

Others boarded aging Philippine air force helicopters for a familiarization flight of the rugged 300,000-acre island.

Lt. Col. Reynato Padua, commander of a Philippine army battalion, said the U.S. presence is a ``psychological booster'' for Filipino soldiers, who also hope to acquire modern weapons and equipment from the Americans after the exercise.

Early Saturday, a Philippine navy ship unloaded about two dozen four-wheel drive pickup trucks and other equipment that was taken to the 25-acre Philippine army camp on Basilan, nestled in hills above the narrow straits separating it from Zamboanga.

The U.S. soldiers pitched tent near basketball and tennis courts where they stocked up on food and water. Some set up laptop computers and communications equipment in a grandstand.

Filipino soldiers, several wearing slippers, mingled with the Americans, gawking at their satellite telephones, all-terrain vehicles and communications headsets. Dogs and goats roamed the camp while Filipino soldiers cooked in a large blackened wok over a wood fire.

Martin and Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan., were seized by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas last May and are believed to be held in the mountainous jungles of Basilan along with a Filipino nurse, Deborah Yap.

Padua said the Burnhams were last seen Jan. 27 in a mountain area in central Basilan. He said about 80 guerrillas operate on the island, including about 30 guarding the hostages. About 5,000 Filipino soldiers have been deployed to Basilan since last year.