- Title: Philippines' Duterte lauds China's help at 'crucial moment' in Marawi battle
- Date: 15th November 2017
- Summary: VARIOUS OF DUTERTE AND LI WALKING ON RED CARPET LI AND DUTERTE BOWING BEFORE CHINESE NATIONAL FLAG
- Embargoed: 29th November 2017 11:56
- Keywords: China Philippines Marawi city state visit Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Islamist insurgents
- Location: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
- City: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
- Country: Philippines
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00377L535X
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday (November 15) heaped praise on visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang for what he said was China's "critical" role in expediting the end of a five-month war with Islamist insurgents in a Philippine town that has killed more than a thousand.
Li, on his first visit to the Philippines as premier, received an official welcome before his meeting with Duterte.
Duterte credited China with supplying what he said was the rifle that on October 16 killed Islamic State's regional point man, Isnilon Hapilon, and said he would present that weapon to China as a mark of appreciation for its help in the war in Marawi City.
There are doubts, however, about if it really was a Chinese sniper rifle that killed Hapilon, and uncertainty about whether the military has used any of the 6,100 guns Beijing has donated since June.
The Philippine defence minister recently said all those weapons were given to the police. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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