U.S. Denies GI Shot Terror Suspect

An American soldier did not shoot a suspected Muslim extremist in the southern Philippines last week, the U.S. Embassy said Monday in refuting an "outrageous" claim by the extremist's wife.

The accusation was made by the wife of Boyongboyong Isnijal, who was wounded Wednesday night when Philippine soldiers encountered a group of suspected Abu Sayyaf guerrillas on Basilan Island.

After a brief clash, all the suspected rebels except Isnijal fled, Philippine officials said. Philippine spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Fredesvindo Covarrubias said the suspect was wounded when he tried to grab the gun of one of the local soldiers who had come to arrest him and the gun accidentally went off, hitting him in the leg.

The man had been wanted for murder and was now being treated in a southern military hospital, Covarrubias told reporters.

"They (the Americans) are very strict and cautious because they know the repercussions of being involved in local operations, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines will not allow them to join," Covarrubias said.

But Isnijal's wife, Juraida, claimed an American soldier shot her husband. That soldier was one of three Americans who barged into Isnijal's house in the village of Canas in Tuburan town around midnight Wednesday, Rep. Satur Ocampo of the leftist Bayan Muna (Country First) party said, quoting the wife.

The U.S. Embassy Monday called the accusation "outrageous."

"The U.S. Embassy categorically denies the assertions of involvement by U.S. service personnel in a shooting incident in Basilan," its statement said.

Isnijal "was wounded in an operation conducted by the Philippine military," it said, adding that an American medic only "helped stabilize the potentially fatal wound."

"The reports are not true. We are not here to take part in police operations," U.S. military spokesman Major Richard Sater said by telephone. "Our mission is to train and advise Philippine soldiers and that's what we are doing. Our troops didn't fire."

However, he did not know why American soldiers were in the vicinity when the shooting took place.

Ocampo has called for an investigation of at least three U.S. Green Berets. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has rescinded an order for a probe.

About 1,000 Green Berets, military engineers and support personnel have spent six months supporting the Philippine army's fight against Abu Sayyaf rebels, who have been linked with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terror network.

The exercise, which ends Wednesday, was the first expansion of the U.S. war on terrorism outside Afghanistan. It marked the return of U.S. troops in large numbers to the Philippines since Washington closed down its last military base in this former American colony in 1992 after Manila's Senate rejected a new bases pact.

A shooting by an American might violate the exercise's terms of reference, which prohibit U.S. troops from firing except in self-defense. U.S. troops conducting a counter-terrorism training exercise are not involved in combat, the embassy statement said.

Nine Americans belonging to a group called the International Solidarity Mission are visiting Basilan this week to assess the impact of the U.S. exercise and will submit a report to the U.S. Congress.

Also Monday, a convoy of anti-American protesters was pelted with stones by angry residents as it arrived in Zamboanga for a rally against the exercise. At least two people were injured.

The protesters plan to rally Tuesday at the gates of the Philippine military's Southern Command headquarters, which has been a base for the exercise.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is to visit Manila on August 2-3 as part of an eight-nation Asian tour expected to focus on talks with the region's leaders on how to confront Islamic extremism.