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| Sunday, 4 August 2002 |
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Manila police scuffle with anti-Powell protestors MANILA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Philippine anti-riot troops drove back scores of leftists on Saturday who tried to break through a police barricade near the presidential palace, where U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. There were no injuries in the brief scuffle which occurred about 300 metres (yards) from the heavily guarded palace in central Manila, witnesses said. Police used truncheons and shields to push back the protesters, who attempted to break through the police line about half an hour before Powell arrived for the 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) meeting. Powell, on the last leg of an eight-nation Asian tour, arrived in Manila on Friday night for talks with Arroyo on their two countries' joint efforts to crush a local Muslim guerrilla group linked to the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden. About 1,000 U.S. troops were deployed in the south of the Roman Catholic Philippines for six months, training Filipino soldiers in counter-terrorism to help defeat the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. The exercise formally ended on Wednesday and the troops have begun to return to their home bases. Powell's talks with Arroyo were expected to focus on holding more military exercises as part of the U.S.-led campaign against terror. Officials say a new set of manoeuvres will likely begin in October. After the scuffle with police the protestors burned pictures of Powell and Arroyo before dispersing. Another leftist group plans to march on the palace later in the morning. On Friday night, about 300 protesters lit torches and shouted anti-American slogans in a rally near a luxury hotel in Manila's Makati financial district, where Powell was staying. The demonstrators denounced the Powell visit as a prelude to increased U.S. military presence in the Philippines, a former U.S. colony. Earlier on Friday, at least a dozen people, including two police officers, were injured in clashes near the U.S. embassy. Police said about 500 demonstrators, holding placards saying "U.S. imperialist, number 1 terrorist," and "Colin Powell, traitor to his race, murderer of mankind," held protests in small groups on roads leading to the embassy. The demonstrators claim a U.S. military presence violates the country's constitution barring foreign combat troops from Philippine soil. Philippine officials said among other topics to be discussed in the palace talks was a possible invitation by Arroyo for President George W. Bush to visit the country. Arroyo was also expected to ask the U.S. State Department to lift a travel advisory warning American tourists against travelling to the Philippines. |
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