MANILA (Reuters) - Thousands of people protested against U.S. soldiers involved in humanitarian missions in Muslim areas of the southern Philippines on Monday, saying the troops' presence could be provocative.
About 6,000 U.S. troops are taking part in annual trainingexercises with Philippine troops over two weeks but they willonly hold humanitarian missions in the south of thearchipelago, where Muslim communities are suspicious of theiractivities.
Zainab Ampatuan, head of the Suara Bangsamoro (Voice of theMoro People) political party, said about 20,000 people gatheredin the southern cities of Davao, General Santos, Cagayan deOro, Cotabato and Pikit to protest the presence of U.S.soldiers in Muslim villages.
Ampatuan said the troops might provoke members of the MoroIslamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslimseparatist group, which is angered that long-running peacetalks with Manila have stalled.
"We fear that hostilities may happen considering that U.S.and Philippine troops will hold their humanitarian missions incontrolled areas of the MILF," he said.
"Instead of this exercise, we're calling on the governmentto resume the peace talks with the MILF," he added.
The humanitarian missions involve medical aid and buildingschools, bridges and clinics.
A group of anti-U.S. activists also urged Congress to scrapthe 1998 treaty allowing the U.S. military to send troops forexercises in the Philippines.
"The humanitarian missions could be fronts for actualcombat operations to fight Islamic militants," Beverly Musni,leader of a coalition of professionals, students and rightsactivists called Out Now.
The Philippine constitution bars foreign troops fromfighting on its territory but since 2002, Washington has beensending elite soldiers to advise Philippine troops on trackingforeign Islamic militants, who use its remote southern islandsas bases.
The campaign against the militants has caused civiliandeaths and sometimes the evacuation of local communities.
The Philippines was a colony of the United States in theearly 20th Century and Washington started settling Christianfamilies in the south, where Muslims were once in a majority.
The Muslim community currently accounts for around 20percent of the population of the southern Philippines.
(Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Carmel Crimmins andDavid Fogarty)