Communist guerrillas claimed responsibility Tuesday for the killing of two American airmen and warned they would continue attacking Americans until the United States dismantles its bases in the Philippines.
The statement of responsibility by the Communist-led New People's Army came on the second day of U.S.-Philippine talks on the future of the bases. In a formality, the Philippines notified U.S. representatives the bases treaty would not be extended upon its expiration in 1991 pending a new agreement.The notification places the issue of when the United States should withdraw its forces if no renewal of U.S. base rights is reached high on the agenda of the exploratory talks to decide the future of the six facilities, including the sprawling Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval complex.
NPA guerrillas said in a statement released to news agencies that they would call off attacks against the United States and declare a unilateral cease-fire if President Corazon Aquino agreed not to renew U.S. basing rights. Aquino has previously rejected the rebel truce offer.
Airmen John H. Raven, 19, of Delta Junction, Alaska, and James C. Green, 20, of Craig, Colo., were killed by gunmen Sunday night while they were about to board a motorized tricycle in front of a hotel in Angeles city.
The two airmen were assigned in Kunsan in South Korea and were on temporary duty at Clark Air Base in Angeles, 50 miles north of Manila. They were the 10th and 11th Americans slain in the last two years in killings attributed to the NPA, the 19,000-strong rebel force battling the Manila government for 21 years.
The rebel statement said the NPA "punished" Raven and Green because U.S. troops and spies had "increased their aggression and intervention in the internal affairs of our country."
"Since 1987, U.S. military officers based in Clark Air Base have participated in the interrogation and torture of suspected NPAs," it said. "Two of our comrades were injected with truth serum and heavily tortured, and one of them became insane as a result of these."
U.S. Embassy spokesperson Victoria Middleton declined comment.
Following the slayings, all off-post leave and liberty for the 40,000 troops and related personnel and dependents in the Philippines was indefinitely canceled.
-A DISTRAUGHT MAN, meanwhile stabbed a retired American serviceman at a nightclub near the U.S.-run Subic Bay Naval Base, police said Tuesday.
The victim was at a nightclub with three other Americans Monday when the unidentified assailant armed with a 7-inch knife stabbed him in the right shoulder, said Lt. Col. Nicanor Daos, chief of police.
Daos identified the victim as Richard Rhodes, a retired U.S. serviceman on vacation. No details on Rhodes' personal background were immediately available.
Daos said the attacker escaped after the stabbing and Rhodes was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared out of danger.
A 26-year-old man believed to be high on drugs was arrested early today in connection with the stabbing.