- Comment
-
- Dave Goldman
- 7-28-3
-
- Jeff - This is a good example how we control at least
some of the arab press. There is NO MENTION whatever of the most important
rebels' protest statement - THAT the US FINANCED THE BLOWING UP MOSQUES
in the Phillipines in bogus 'terror' incidents!
-
- Rebels End Armed Seige In Manila
- <http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/breakingnews/view.asp?msgID=2182>
- Arab Times Online
- 7-28-3
-
- Almost 300 Filipino soldiers will face court-martial
after a collapsed rebellion and siege in central Manila that trapped Australia's
ambassador Ruth Pearce and 11 other nationals for six hours before their
release from an apartment complex.
-
- Ms Pearce told reporters at the scene she had never felt
threatened during the ordeal in which the mutineer soldiers demanded President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her cabinet step down, accusing them of breeding
corruption and sponsoring terrorism.
-
- Ms Pearce was released yesterday morning along with a
second Australian diplomat and his family, four Australian Federal Police
officers and about 300 other residents, mostly foreigners.
-
- Ms Pearce, 53, and the other Australians were trapped
in the high-rise Oakwood apartment complex attached to the Ayala shopping
complex, which was wired with explosives as part of a military mutiny.
-
- West Australian parliamentarians John Hyde and Bernie
Masters, who were in the Philippines for a meeting, are also safe and well
at a hotel in Manila.
-
- Australian tourist Jody Harris said she was relieved
to have been released.
-
- Warrick Walker, an Australian company executive, was
also freed and said the coup attempt would set back the Philippines' economy.
-
- Australian travellers have now been told by the federal
government to take extreme care in the Philippines.
-
- Speaking by phone to Prime Minister John Howard after
her release, Ms Pearce said she believed it was a coincidence that the
soldiers had targeted a building where Australians were staying.
-
- "She believed that the involvement of the Australians
was incidental," a spokesman for Mr Howard said.
-
- Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, speaking from Singapore
where he is attending free-trade talks, said the revolt couldn't have come
at a worse time because it threatened anti-terror efforts there.
-
- "The Philippines government has worked earnestly
to try to counter terrorism, and the last thing we need at this time is
this kind of political disruption that would undermine ... the Philippines
government's work," he said.
-
- Labor leader Simon Crean said the siege highlighted the
need for regional governments to hold a summit on terrorism.
-
- Mr Crean said the incident demonstrated that the greatest
terrorist threats to Australia were in the region.
-
- "I think we do have to fight this issue of terrorism
collectively, and we have to fight it in the context of our region,"
Mr Crean said.
-
- "We've seen the examples in the Philippines, we
know the problem in Indonesia. What we've got to do is really work together."
-
- The mutiny ended peacefully early this morning after
nearly 300 troops holed up in a booby-trapped apartment complex called
off their 20-hour rebellion.
-
- The mutineers, in full uniform and still carrying their
assault rifles, crates of explosives and rucksacks, vacated the city's
Makati financial district shortly before midnight local time (2am AEST)
and boarded trucks to a nearby army base, still carrying their arms.
-
- Earlier, President Arroyo appeared on national television
to declare the stand-off over, hailing the outcome of the Southeast Asian
nation's eighth military uprising in 17 years as a "triumph for democracy".
-
- "The crisis in Makati is over," a smiling Arroyo
said in her broadcast. "(The) 296 soldiers, including 70 officers,
are standing down and returning to barracks.
-
- "They will be investigated and their cases will
be disposed of in accordance with the articles of war," she said.
-
- The mutineers had complained about corruption and misconduct
by senior officers and the government as well as favouritism within the
ranks, along with problems with a military retirement fund.
-
- Some demanded an inquiry into a recent spate of terror
bombings in the country's south and better control over military weapons
and ammunition distribution. "We are not attempting to grab power.
We are just trying to express our grievances," one senior mutiny leader,
navy Lt Sr Grade Antonio Trillanes, told reporters.
-
- Some emerged from the standoff saying they were happy
it was over.
-
- "We have gotten across our message clear to the
whole nation and maybe to the whole world," Marine Capt Nicanor Faeldon
said.
-
- But Trillanes sounded bitter that only a few citizens
turned out to support the mutineers.
-
- "It's frustrating to know that the Filipino people
chose to be led this way," he said. "The corruption will continue.
This will all be a show, but believe me, nothing will happen. There will
be no reforms."
- http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/breakingnews/view.asp?msgID=2182
|
