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Quote:
From the Melbourne Age:
STORY 1 - More troops headed for Iraq
July 13, 2004 - 12:16PM
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Australia is to send more troops to Iraq, the federal government has announced.
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Defence Minister Robert Hill said an extra 30 troops and six armoured vehicles would be sent to boost protection of forces already in Iraq.
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"The government has decided to increase force protection in Iraq; it has accepted advice from the ADF that further protection is desirable for military trainers (and) for our diplomats," Senator Hill told reporters.
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He said the trainers required further protection as they were operating from bases that were further afield and involved more travel by road.
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Australia will begin deploying the Australian Light Armoured Vehicles (ASLAVs) and possibly the troops later this week.
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The minister said the move would give Australian forces greater flexibility and reduce its reliance on the United States.
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Senator Hill said the additional deployment was still below Australia's ceiling on troop numbers in Iraq, which was between 920 and 950.
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The extra troops will take the number of personnel in Iraq to around 880.
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The six extra armoured vehicles will double the number already deployed.
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Senator Hill repeated that the government remained committed to stay in Iraq until the job was done.
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"That's a dangerous environment for both military forces and for our officials," he said.
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Senator Hill denied the new deployment was the result of a US request.
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It was based on Australian Defence Force (ADF) advice, the minister said.
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"This is a decision we have taken as a result of advice of the ADF, they have been doing a review, we've actually had ongoing reviews of force protection and security levels and the government has accepted advice that we should increase it in this way," he said.
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The extra protection forces will take to 120 the number of troops on security detachment, while the six extra ASLAVs will boost the total number to 12.
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Senator Hill acknowledged the security situation in Iraq was worse than when Australian troops were first deployed last year.
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"There has certainly been a significant increase in improvised explosive devices, particularly threatening land transport," he said.
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Senator Hill said the government was not considering sending any additional army or security trainers.
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"We believe we're making an appropriate contribution to training," he said.
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"We believe we're meeting our fair share of the burden."
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Senator Hill said the government was keen to see the United Nations return to Iraq but he refused to give a commitment that Australia would help protect a UN mission there.
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"We haven't had any formal request," he said.
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Senator Hill also suggested Iraqi personnel were likely to soon take over from Australian air traffic controllers at Baghdad airport.
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"I think that it will be possible in the not too distant future to transfer full responsibility to the Iraqis to manage their own airport," he said.
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"We look forward to that occurring but we don't have a specific date."
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- AAP
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STORY 2 - Philippines denies Iraq troop withdrawal
July 13, 2004 - 5:09PM
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The Philippines denied it was planning an early withdrawal of troops from Iraq to save the life of a kidnapped Filipino truck driver as the deadline for his execution passed.
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A senior Philippine official said the timetable for the pullout of the small contingent remained unchanged, despite a suggestion by Deputy Foreign Secretary Rafael Seguis late Monday that the process could be speeded up.
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"We maintain the same position," said the senior official in Manila, asking to remain anonymous. "Until all the preparations are completed, that is the only time they are pulling out."
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Military spokesman Colonel Daniel Lucero said a plan had already been drawn up for an early withdrawal of the 51 soldiers and police officers, but that no order had been given to proceed.
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The kidnappers from the Khaled ibn al-Walid Brigade (Islamic Army in Iraq) have demanded Manila pull out the troops by July 20, one month ahead of schedule. They have threatened to behead the hostage if the demand is not met.
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In an appeal to the kidnappers to save the life of father-of-eight Angelo de la Cruz on Arabic television station Al-Jazeera late Monday, Seguis said the troops would be withdrawn "as soon as possible".
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Angelo de la Cruz - father of eight
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However, he declined to give a date for the withdrawal.
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"In response to the demand by the group Khaled ibn al-Walid, the Philippine government, in line with its commitments, will pull its humanitarian forces out of Iraq as soon as possible in the time it takes to carry out the necessary preparation for their return to the Philippines," Seguis said.
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"In the name of the Philippine people, in the name of the whole of humanity and in the name of the eight children of the hostage, the Philippine government beseeches you to free him," Seguis said.
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The Philippine government has previously identified Seguis as the main spokesman for the efforts to free de la Cruz.
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Al-Jazeera reported earlier that de la Cruz had been granted a stay of execution until late Monday by his captors.
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The station said the hostage had been taken, after the deadline expired, to "the place of his execution" where he was allowed to launch a final appeal to Philippine President Gloria Arroyo.
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The wife and brother of de la Cruz arrived in neighbouring Jordan to appeal for his release.
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An early pullout would be an embarrassing reversal for Arroyo who has repeatedly insisted that her government would not cave in to terrorism.
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Just hours before the Philippine deputy foreign secretary's comments to Al-Jazeera, the United States praised the Philippines for not bowing to the kidnappers' demands.
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"We applaud President Arroyo's decision not to give in to terrorists and not to agree to an early withdrawal of Filipino forces," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
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De la Cruz was abducted last week by a group calling itself the Khaled Ibn al-Walid Brigade.
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The 46 year-old driver has become a cause celebre for the more than one million Filipino workers in the Middle East. He has also united this deeply divided country, with both minority Muslims and majority Roman Catholics praying for his freedom.
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Max Soliven, publisher of the respected Philippine Star newspaper in Manila, warned in his editorial that giving in to the kidnappers "would not only demonstrate weakness and cowardice, but declare to terrorists it's open season on all Filipinos within their reach".
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© 2004 AFP
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Source: www.theage.com.au
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I really feel for this bloke's family...as some of you will know I'm part Filipino and I know why guys like him go to places like the Middle East to earn a living - it's the only way they can escape the grinding poverty of their country and provide a better future for their children - and poverty in the Philippines doesn't just mean not having heating in winter or not having enough clothes to wear, poverty in a third-world country is POVERTY. It's so unfair that he be made to pay a price in something that he's got no control over as he was just there to try and make his family's lives better, but nobody ever said terrorism was fair. At a micro level I totally sympathise with his family - it'll be a death knell to his wife and eight kids if he's executed, and the Philippine government won't have the money to support his family. On the other hand if you bow down to terrorists in this way it just encourages them to do the same to get their demands met. It's a bloody hard decision for someone to make - risk this guy's death now in hope of saving more in the future, or save it now to risk the same thing happens again?
I hope this is somehow resolved.
[ 07-13-2004, 05:12 AM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]
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07-13-2004, 03:25 AM
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