EDs: Attention language in final par
By Jim Gomez
MANILA, Aug 9 AP - The US government says it's concerned by the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers and users in a bloody crackdown overseen by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and is urging his government to ensure law enforcement efforts comply with human rights obligations.
US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau on Monday also criticised recent remarks by Duterte about the US ambassador in Manila and asked Philippine officials to clarify them.
Duterte has an uneasy relationship with America and wants a foreign policy that is not dependent on the US, his country's longtime ally.
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Duterte is trying to repair relations with China that have been strained over escalating territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
The drug crackdown has left more than 400 suspected dealers dead and more than 4400 arrested since Duterte took office on June 30.
Nearly 600,000 people have surrendered to authorities, hoping to avoid getting killed.
The arrests have overwhelmed the country's mostly rundown and already-overcrowded jails.
Several of the slain drug suspects were killed by motorcycle-riding gunmen in attacks similar to those carried out by so-called "death squads" which were blamed for years of killings in southern Davao city while Duterte was the longtime mayor.
Duterte reacted angrily on Tuesday saying his aggressive crackdown was meant to save Filipinos from crime and danger sparked by illegal drugs, and added he had not ordered law enforcers to conduct illegal killings.
In a speech before army troops on Friday, Duterte described a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry at the presidential palace in Manila last month.
Duterte said Kerry, who offered more than $US30 million ($A39.22 million) in aid for law enforcement training, was "OK" but he criticised Goldberg.
"I had a feud with his ambassador, his gay ambassador. Son of a bitch, I'm annoyed with the guy. He meddled in the elections, giving statements here and there. He wasn't supposed to do that," Duterte said, without giving details.
