CLOSE President Rodrigo Duterte ratchets up his feud with the United States, ordering all American special forces out of the southern Philippines where they have been advising local troops battling Muslim extremists. Video provided by AFP Newslook

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte holds up a photo -- and cites accounts of U.S. troops who killed Muslims during the U.S. occupation of the Philippines in the early-1900 -- during a speech in Manila on Sept. 12, 2016. (Photo: Ted Aljibe, AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. forces advising the Philippine military against an Islamic insurgency are doing more harm than good and must leave, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday.

Duterte, who made international headlines last week by crudely insulting President Obama, said white Westerners are an inviting target for kidnap-for-ransom groups such as the militant Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines. Duterte blamed his government's ties to the West — and a grisly U.S. military operation that targeted Muslims more than 100 years ago — for fueling much of the unrest centered in the Mindanao island group.

”I do not want a rift with America, but they have to go," Duterte, who is from the Mindanao region, said during a speech in Manila. "Americans, they (insurgents) will really kill them."

Duterte said he had planned to raise the issue last week when he and Obama attended the ASEAN Summit in Laos but did not do so "out of respect." He provided no timeline for a U.S. exit.

In Washington, the White House said it had not received a formal request to remove U.S. military personnel, spokesman Josh Earnest said. He added that Duterte had a tendency to make “colorful comments,” the Associated Press reported.

Duterte spokesman Ernesto Abella said the Philippine president's comments reflected the government's "new direction toward coursing an independent foreign policy."

Abella also pointed to lasting resentment over the U.S military campaign in 1906 that led to the slaughter of hundreds of Muslims in the southern Philippines. Duterte has criticized the United States for failing to apologize for the bloodbath.

"Hence our continued connection with the West is the real reason for the 'Islamic' threat in Mindanao,” Abella said in a statement issued through the Philippines News Agency .

The tough-talking Duterte has had a bumpy relationship with the U.S. since taking office in June. He drew sharp international criticism, including from the United Nations, for encouraging vigilante-style killings of drug dealers and criminals. Duterte shrugged off the controversy.

"Maybe we'll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations," Duterte said.

On Sept. 3, Duterte issued a warning before the summit began in Laos that Obama better not condemn his law-and-order policies, or “son of a bitch, I will swear at you in that forum."

Duterte later walked back the comment, saying he looked forward to "ironing out differences" between the two countries.

The Philippines was a U.S. colony from 1898 until the 1940s. The island group hosted permanent U.S. military bases until the Philippine government ordered them removed 25 years ago.

The U.S.has provided advisers some level of aid to fight Abu Sayyaf for more than a decade. Recently, the Philippine government has increased its own military effort to crush the militants.

”Those (U.S.) special forces, they have to go," Duterte said. "There are many white (people) there. They have to go."

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2cjcZI5 </s> Trapped Filipino villagers are escorted by government troops during a rescue operation as fighting between Islamist militants and government forces continues in Marawi city, Mindanao island, southern Philippines on May 31, 2017. Francis R. Malasig / EPA file

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have linked Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to more than 1,400 extra judicial killings while a public official. The UN said that Duterte, as mayor of Davao City, had done nothing to stop extrajudicial killings.

Duterte has denied any role in the killings — while expressing support for them — but has also said he personally killed some suspected criminals,

Duterte Says He Threw Rape Suspect Out of Helicopter, Would Do It Again

Last month, the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs endorsed the idea of naming the mission in the Philippines, saying that naming it would provide more funding.

“In every case where we see the resurgence of terror networks,” said Gen. Paul Selva in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, “particularly in the fragile areas of the southern Philippines, I think it’s worth considering whether or not we reinstate a named operation, not only to provide for the resources that are required, but to give the Pacific Command commander and the field commanders in the Philippines the kinds of authorities they need to work with indigenous Philippine forces to actually help them be successful in that battle space.” </s> DAVAO CITY: President Rodrigo Duterte ratcheted up his feud with the United States on Monday, ordering all American special forces out of the southern Philippines where they have been advising local troops battling Muslim extremists.

Duterte’s order came a week after he called US President Barack Obama “a son of a whore”, causing Obama to cancel their scheduled bilateral meeting at a summit in Laos.

The Filipino leader, the first to hail from the south and who claims Muslim ancestry, has been stepping up efforts to bring peace to the southern Philippines, where decades-long insurgencies with Muslim and communist rebels have claimed more than 150,000 lives.

Last month he restarted peace talks with the largest separatist group, the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which like others has been fighting since the 1970s for an independent Islamic state or autonomous rule.

US advisors in the area help train Filipino troops but are barred from engaging in combat except in self-defence.

Previously, about 500-600 US personnel rotated through the Mindanao region but in 2014, then-defence secretary Voltaire Gazmin said this would be cut back to 200.

Duterte did not specify when or how many Americans would be expelled but said the Philippines alignment with the West was at the root of the persistent Muslim insurgency.

“These US special forces, they have to go in Mindanao,” he told a gathering of government employees.

“The (Muslim) people will become more agitated. If they see an American, they will really kill him.”

The Pentagon said it was aware of Duterte’s statements but had not been contacted by authorities on the issue.

“We will continue to consult closely with our Filipino partners to appropriately tailor our assistance to whatever approach the new Administration adopts,” Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross said.

The United States is Manila’s main military ally and the Philippines’ colonial ruler until 1946. In his speech, Duterte showed photographs and cited accounts of how US troops killed Muslims during America’s occupation of the Philippines in the early-1900s to explain his decision.

Duterte’s spokesman Ernesto Abella said that “the statement reflects (President Duterte’s) new direction towards coursing an independent foreign policy”.

The Filipino leader also hit out at Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for criticising his bloody crackdown on crime that has claimed 3,000 lives in a little over two months.

“This Obama, when you accuse me of killing… let he who is without sin, cast the first stone,” he said.

In a brief encounter in Laos, Obama urged the Filipino leader to conduct his war on crime “the right way” and protect human rights, but Duterte has said it is none of America’s business. AFP </s> Philippine president wants US forces out of restive south

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine president says he wants U.S. forces out of his country's restive south and blamed America for the restiveness of Muslim militants in the region and for the killings of Muslim Filipinos during a U.S. pacification campaign in the early 1900s.

President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday that Americans would constantly be in danger in the southern Mindanao region, where Islamic extremists would constantly try to kill or kidnap them for ransom. He did not mention any deadline or give other details.

The U.S. Embassy did not immediately issue any reaction.

Duterte also criticized President Barack Obama for raising human rights concerns about the Philippine leader's bloody crackdown against drugs when the U.S. leader, he says, has not apologized for the American atrocities against local Muslims. </s> Duterte orders US advisers out of southern Philippines

President Rodrigo Duterte ratcheted up his feud with the United States on Monday, ordering all American special forces out of the southern Philippines where they have been advising local troops battling Muslim extremists.

Duterte's order came a week after he called US President Barack Obama "a son of a whore", causing Obama to cancel their scheduled bilateral meeting at a summit in Laos.

The Filipino leader, the first to hail from the south and who claims Muslim ancestry, has been stepping up efforts to bring peace to the southern Philippines, where decades-long insurgencies with Muslim and communist rebels have claimed more than 150,000 lives.

Last month he restarted peace talks with the largest separatist group, the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which like others has been fighting since the 1970s for an independent Islamic state or autonomous rule.

US advisors in the area help train Filipino troops but are barred from engaging in combat except in self-defence.

Previously, about 500-600 US personnel rotated through the Mindanao region but in 2014, then-defence secretary Voltaire Gazmin said this would be cut back to 200.

Duterte did not specify when or how many Americans would be expelled but said the Philippines alignment with the West was at the root of the persistent Muslim insurgency.

"These US special forces, they have to go in Mindanao," he told a gathering of government employees.

"The (Muslim) people will become more agitated. If they see an American, they will really kill him."

The US embassy could not be reached for comment.

The United States is Manila's main military ally and the Philippines' colonial ruler until 1946. In his speech, Duterte showed photographs and cited accounts of how US troops killed Muslims during America's occupation of the Philippines in the early-1900s to explain his decision.

Duterte's spokesman Ernesto Abella said that "the statement reflects (President Duterte's) new direction towards coursing an independent foreign policy".

The Filipino leader also hit out at Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for criticising his bloody crackdown on crime that has claimed 3,000 lives in a little over two months.

"This Obama, when you accuse me of killing... let he who is without sin, cast the first stone," he said.

In a brief encounter in Laos, Obama urged the Filipino leader to conduct his crime war "the right way" and protect human rights, but Duterte has dismissed it as being none of America's business. </s> US says Philippines has not asked it to pull forces

The United States said the Philippine government had not officially communicated President Rodrigo Duterte's demand to pull US military advisers out of the rebellion-torn southern Philippines.

Since 2002, up to 600 US advisers have been deployed in the Mindanao region to train troops battling Muslim extremists but their numbers have been scaled down in recent years.

A week after calling US President Barack Obama a "son of a whore", the incendiary leader said Monday US Special Forces in the region "have to go".

Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay however attempted to downplay Duterte's comments, saying Tuesday they were "in the context of wanting to save the lives of these Americans who might be exposing themselves to unnecessary risk" from militant attacks.

In Washington, the Pentagon and State Department said they had not been officially contacted by Manila about pulling out the remaining advisers, who Yasay said now numbered about 100.

"We will continue to consult closely with our Filipino partners to appropriately tailor our assistance to whatever approach the new administration adopts," Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross said.

State Department spokesman John Kirby also said they were not aware of any official request from the Philippine government.

Yasay, interviewed by Manila's ABS-CBN network, confirmed the allies had not discussed Duterte's demand.

Duterte, 71, has said he is "not a fan" of the United States and on Monday explained his demand by showing pictures of US troops killing Muslims as America took control of its new colony in the early 1900s.

He has said the spat was triggered by State Department criticism of his controversial war on drug crime, which has left about 3,000 people dead since he began his six-year term in July.

Obama has said Duterte must conduct his crime war "the right way", protecting human rights.

Yasay stressed that Duterte's new comments did not signal a shift in policy, and that ties with the US remained strong.

The president only wanted to protect Americans from kidnappings and terrorism as they had become "a very good target", Yasay said.

"There is no shift in so far as our policy is concerned with respect to our close friendship with the Americans."

Yasay, who was heading to Washington for talks, added the Duterte administration would honour existing defence agreements including a 2014 accord giving the US military access to at least five Philippine bases, one of them in Mindanao.

His comments were in sharp contrast to an initial explanation by Duterte spokesman Ernesto Abella, who said the demand "reflects (Duterte's) new direction towards coursing an independent foreign policy. </s> MANILA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cut short a visit to Russia and imposed martial law on the island of Mindanao on Tuesday after a fierce bout of fighting erupted during a raid by security forces at a hideout of Islamic State-linked militants.Two soldiers and a policeman were killed and 12 wounded amid chaos in Marawi, a predominantly Muslim city of about 200,000 people, where members of the Maute militant group took control of buildings and set fire to a school, a church and a detention facility.Duterte, a native of Mindanao, cancelled a meeting set for Wednesday with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Tass news agency said President Vladimir Putin would see him before his departure Tuesday night, instead of on Thursday as planned. "The government is in full control of the situation and is fully aware that the Maute/ISIS and similar groups have the capability, though limited, to disturb the peace," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told a news conference in Moscow.The Maute and Abu Sayyaf militant groups have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and have proved fierce opponents for the military as Duterte seeks to crush extremists and prevent radical Islamist ideology from spreading in the Philippines.Abella said the militants "have shown no hesitation in causing havoc, taking innocent lives and destroying property."Duterte has warned repeatedly that Mindanao, an impoverished, restive region the size of South Korea, was at risk of "contamination" by Islamic State fighters driven out of Iraq and Syria.

Brigadier General Rolando Bautista, commander of the Philippines' First Infantry Division, said security forces were trying to locate militants who had scattered everywhere and were blocking reinforcements from arriving."There are more or less 100, divided into groups of 10 in different locations," Bautista told news channel ANC."Since they are advocating ISIS ideology they have to show ISIS that they are a force to be reckoned with."

FIERCE FIGHTERS

 Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said and some 1,000 soldiers would be in Marawi by morning, but warned civilians to stay in their homes."There are Maute snipers all around, so the troops are still holding and elements have already joined," he said.The purpose of Tuesday's raid was to capture Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf group which is notorious for piracy and for kidnapping and beheading Westerners. The U.S. State Department has offered a bounty of up to $5 million for Hapilon's arrest.

The military has not explained how the raid on an apartment turned into urban warfare that was still raging 12 hours later.The incident highlights the challenges facing Duterte, who has pleaded with separatists and moderate Muslims in the predominantly Catholic nation to shun Abu Sayyaf and Maute. He has threatened several times to declare martial law in Mindanano, and deliver a "harsh" crackdown. Martial law will apply for 60 days.The government has blamed the Maute for a bombing in September 2016 at a street market in Duterte's hometown of Davao City, which killed 14 people and wounded dozens.Maute fighters took over a disused building in the region in November and endured five days of military air and ground assaults before fleeing, with 61 fighters killed. (Editing by Mark TrevelyanEditing by Mark Trevelyan)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. </s> MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he will deal harshly with terrorism and that martial law on the island of Mindanao would remain in place for a year if necessary.

Duterte cut short a visit to Russia and placed the southern island of Mindanao under martial rule on Tuesday after a fierce bout of fighting erupted during a raid by security forces at a hideout of Islamic State-linked militants.

"To my countrymen who have experienced martial law. It would not be any different from what President Marcos did. I’d be harsh,” Duterte said in an interview with his assistant communications secretary while onboard a flight back to Manila.

"If it would take a year to do it then we'll do it. If it's over with a month, then I'd be happy. To my countrymen, do not be too scared. I'm going home. I will deal with the problem once I arrive," said Duterte, a native of Mindano.

Two soldiers and a policeman were killed and 12 people wounded amid chaos in Marawi, a predominantly Muslim city of about 200,000 people, where members of the Maute militant group took control of buildings and set fire to a school, a church and a detention facility.

The Philippines endured a decade of martial law under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos from the early 1970s and memories of campaigns to restore democracy and protect human rights are fresh in the minds of many people.

The military said it was optimistic they could end the conflict sooner rather than later.

"The intent of these security forces, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, is to conclude this rapidly so that we can restore normalcy in that area," military spokesperson Edgar Arevalo said in an interview with news channel ANC.

The purpose of Tuesday's raid was to capture Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf group which is notorious for piracy and for kidnapping and beheading Westerners. The U.S. State Department has offered a bounty of up to US$5 million for Hapilon's arrest.

The Maute and Abu Sayyaf militant groups have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and have proved fierce opponents for the military as Duterte seeks to crush extremists and prevent radical Islamist ideology from spreading in the Philippines.

Duterte has warned repeatedly that Mindanao, an impoverished, restive region the size of South Korea, was at risk of "contamination" by Islamic State fighters driven out of Iraq and Syria.

Arevalo insisted there is no ISIS in the Philippines.

"This so-called group who are posing to be ISIS, they are merely courting the acclamation of ISIS which until now they haven’t received, that’s why they continue with their atrocities," Arevalo said. </s> MANILA — Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte appeared to liken himself to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on Friday and said he would “be happy” to exterminate 3 million drug users and peddlers in the country.

Although the administration of President Barack Obama played down the remark, Duterte’s comments triggered shock and anger among Jewish groups in the United States, which could create pressure on the U.S. government to take a tougher line with the Philippines leader.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Friday said Duterte’s comments, in a rambling speech on his arrival in Davao City after a visit to Vietnam, were “a significant departure” from America’s partnership with the Philippines “and we find them troubling.”

Duterte told reporters that he had been “portrayed to be a cousin of Hitler” by critics.

Noting that Hitler had murdered millions of Jews, Duterte said, “There are 3 million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I’d be happy to slaughter them.

“If Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have …,” he said, pausing and pointing to himself.

“You know my victims. I would like (them) to be all criminals to finish the problem of my country and save the next generation from perdition.”

U.N. special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Adama Dieng, expressed alarm at Duterte’s comments and urged the Philippines leader to exercise restraint in his use of language, a U.N. statement said.

Dieng also called on Duterte to support an investigation into the reported rise in killings resulting from his anti-drug campaign, the statement said.

In August, Duterte threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the United Nations after it called for an end to the killings.

In Washington, a State Department spokeswoman, Anna Richey-Allen, had repeated concerns about reports of extrajudicial killings in the southeast Asian country but offered no response to Duterte’s comment referring to Hitler.

A White House official on Friday stuck to a strategy of stressing Washington’s long-standing ties with Manila, saying, “We continue to focus on our broad relationship with the Philippines and will work together in the many areas of mutual interest.”

How relations between the U.S. and the Philippines evolve will depend more on what Duterte does than on what he says, administration officials have said.

In Hawaii on Friday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter met with the defense chiefs of southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, and U.S. officials said they would use the forum to clarify comments by Duterte that throw into doubt his commitment to military ties with the United States, including joint exercises and patrols.

Carter, speaking before Duterte’s remarks in Davao, said Washington had an “ironclad” alliance with Manila.

Since Duterte took office on June 30, more than 3,100 people have been killed since then, mostly alleged drug users and dealers, in police operations and vigilante killings.

Duterte, who was elected in May on the back of a vow to end drugs and corruption in the country of 100 million people, has insulted Obama and in a number of remarks he has undermined the relationship between Manila and Washington.

On Friday, reacting to critical comments on his war on drugs by U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy and Benjamin Cardin, Duterte said, “Do not pretend to be the moral conscience of the world. Do not be the policeman because you do not have the eligibility to do that in my country.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Digital Terrorism and Hate project, called them “outrageous.”

“Duterte owes the victims (of the Holocaust) an apology for his disgusting rhetoric,” Cooper said.

The Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish group based in the United States, said Duterte’s comments were “shocking for their tone-deafness.”

“The comparison of drug users and dealers to Holocaust victims is inappropriate and deeply offensive,” said Todd Gutnick, the group’s director of communications. “It is baffling why any leader would want to model himself after such a monster.”

Duterte has said there will be no annual war games between the Philippines and the United States until the end of his six-year term, and his hostility may make Washington’s strategy of rebalancing its military focus toward Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China more difficult to achieve.

Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said Obama was “taking the long view” in dealing with Duterte. Obama leaves office in January.

Malcolm Cook, a senior fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, said the U.S-Philippines alliance was not necessarily at risk, but Washington could seek to focus on ties elsewhere in the region.

“We are all in some sense becoming, by necessity, desensitized to Duterte’s language,” he said.

“Diplomatically, the U.S. would say they’ll continue to work with him and the alliance is strong. But it’s whether they’ll continue to strengthen that alliance or not.”
In response to criticism of his government's extrajudicial killings of 1,800 people since July, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte says that U.S. forces advising the Armed Forces of the Philippines against an Islamic insurgency in Mindanao are doing more harm than good and must leave the country, saying, ”I do not want a rift with America, but they have to go," during a speech in Manila.