AP. 21 January 2002. U.S. Planes Arrive in Philippines.
ZAMBOANGA -- U.S. military cargo planes brought more troops and equipment to the southern Philippines on Sunday amid growing protests against American involvement in the government's efforts to quash Muslim guerrillas. Hundreds of leftist activists used protests on the first anniversary Sunday of Arroyo's rise to power to demand American troops leave the country. Outside the presidential palace in Manila, protesters hurled tomatoes at a giant effigy of Arroyo on a mock throne adorned with American flags and a sign that read "Traitor." Another placard read "U.S. terrorist troops, go home!" "It's a slap on our sovereignty," protest leader Teodoro Casino said. In the predominantly Muslim city of Marawi in the south, about 500 students yelled "Allahu Akbar!" -- God is great -- while burning a U.S. flag. "If Americans would end up as casualties, they would retaliate," said Mahoud Gaima, a leader of a Muslim group called the Bangsa Moro Youth Assembly. "Many of us could end up as innocent victims." While street protests against the planned U.S. presence have failed to draw mass crowds in the Philippines in recent weeks, organizers predict participation will grow in coming days. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
