MANILA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States is planning to deploy more troops in southern Philippines to augment its current forces in a heightened anti-terrorism fight against al Qaida-linked Islamists in Southeast Asia, the U.S. Embassy here said on Wednesday.

    Embassy Spokesman Matthew Lussenhop said the U.S. Defense Department is planning to augment a small contingent of U.S. Special Forces soldiers stationed in Zamboanga, Mindanao island.

    Lussenhop said additional U.S. troops will only be deployed "in the service of countering terrorism," following request made by the Philippine government.

    Lussenhop's remarks came several days after the Embassy released a State Department's 2005 Report to the U.S. Congress, stating coordination and cooperation in Mindanao and nearby islands among the al Qaida-linked terrorists, including the Abu Sayyaf Group, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and the Raja Sulaiman Movement (RSM).

    More U.S. troops in Mindanao could be possible through "invitation of the government of the Philippines under the auspices of the Mutual Defense Treaty," Lussenhop said, as he stressed that there was no timetable for Washington's plan to send additional soldiers in Mindanao, Sulu and Basilan.

    The Philippines, a former U.S. colony, has hosted U.S. military bases at Subic Bay and Clark Field, north of Manila in main Luzon island until 1991. Enditem