Philippine President Gloria Arroyo promised her country would go every step of the way in a global war on terrorism, and vowed to bring Filipino terrorist groups to justice. On the eve of her White House talks with President George W Bush, Arroyo delivered a firm renunciation of terrorism, but called on the developed world to give support to nations gripped in poverty -- which she referred to as the spawning grounds of terrorism. Arroyo on Monday said that she was the first Southeast Asian leader to call Bush to offer condolences for the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11 which killed 5,000 people. She promised that the Philippines would do everything it could to support Bush's 'war on terrorism', noting that through the actions of Islamic separatist groups, the Philippines too suffered from terrorism. “We are determined to go every step of the way. I am here in Washington to affirm our solidarity,” Arroyo said in a speech to the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, from which she graduated in 1968 in a class, which also boasted future US President Bill Clinton. “It is our belief that evil should not be allowed to rule even one inch of the earth.”
Arroyo recalled that she had offered Philippine airspace and, subject to the approval of the Philippine Congress, combat troops if requested for the US effort, which is currently focusing on an assault on Afghanistan's Taliban, which harbours terror suspect Osama bin Laden. Bureau Report