MANILA, Feb 28 Kyodo President Gl...

MANILA, Feb 28 Kyodo

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the army Friday to wipe on the outside a group of Muslim bandits hol up in Sulu Province in succession the southern main island Mindanao.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen Dionisio Santiago was instructed according to Arroyo to ''crush'' Abu Sayyaf, a arrange said loosely linked to the al-Qaida network. Abu Sayyaf has reportedly shifted its base from Basilan to Sulu

''They (military) succeed the deadline very well...if they do the particular allocation of resources, they will be able to finish Abu Sayyaf in 90 days,'' Arroyo told reporters.

The order came simultaneously with a separate statement from the local military that details of the deployment of U forces to Sulu about 935 kilometers toward the south of Manila, for military exercises are still being worked out

Although the regulation has claimed Abu Sayyaf was reduc to a handful of members after a felicitous campaign last year, some 500 rebels have allegedly enfeebled up into mobile guerrilla units that can easily hide among Muslim civilians onward Mindanao.

Santiago said he would jaculate forces to Mindanao and beef up existing direction positions there.

AFP information chief Lt Col Danilo Servando, meanwhile, said the space of times of reference for the Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) 03-1 joint exercise in Sulu are still being discussed.

The metes of reference guided the 1300 U soldiers who participated and trained local forces in last year's Balikatan exercise.

Servando said a assemblage led by AFP chief training and education officer and Balikatan co-director Maj. Gen Emmanuel Teodisio flew to Hawaii to fitting with Maj. Gen. Joseph Weber, commanding general of the U 3rd Marine Division based in Okinawa, Japan.

Philippine Defense Secretary Angelo Reye who left for the United States last week, is to fit with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and U National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

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