The Philippine and US navy launched Tuesday a new round of combined naval exercises at Subic Bay free port to promote interoperability in the main northern Philippine island of Luzon.

At least 1,400 American sailors aboard five US naval ships and 1,100 Filipino troops with five vessels will participate in the week-long joint naval exercises dubbed "Cooperation Afloat Readiness Training Exercise 2004," the military said Tuesday.

The exercises also aimed to build bilateral friendship and enhance military-to-military relationships by giving its participants the opportunity to work together in planning sessions in the field, at sea, and in civic action projects, Philippine and US navy officials said at the opening ceremony.

The exercises were planned last year and finalized this year, and the exercises are part of a regularly scheduled series of bilateral exercises with several Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia, Rear Admiral Kevin Quinn, commander of the Logistics Group Western Pacific of the US Navy, said at the press conference.     

He made the remarks in responding to the question whether the exercises had any relation to the Philippines' decision of pulling out its humanitarian contingent from Iraq to save a Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz.

This event is separate from anti-terrorist exercises being supervised by US Army Special Forces members in the strife-torn southern island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, which was started Monday, he added.

The Philippine naval public information officials said earlier this was an annual bilateral naval exercise between the Philippines and the United States.

American troops in the past provided logistical support to the Philippines, a staunch Asian ally of the US-led war on terrorism, in field operations against the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group in Mindanao.

Washington could not afford to completely abandon Manila in its war against local militants linked to al-Qaeda, which is allegedly behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the Untied States, according to analysts.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2004)