An American was killed and his German companion wounded in an ambush thought to be carried out by communist rebels near Mount Pinatubo in northern Philippines on Wednesday. Lt Col Jose Mabanta, army spokesman, identified the slain American as Bryan Smith and the German as Sigfried Whitman.

Whitman, who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, was airlifted yesterday to Angeles City, 30 km from the ambush site, and is confined at a hospital there. He has been a long time resident of Angeles City.

Smith, reportedly a journalist for a London-based travel magazine, was researching the famous volcano for a features article.

Whitman, who suffered a leg wound, alerted authorities to the attack through text messages sent through his mobile phone to a friend on Wednesday. The American's body was recovered yesterday.

"As of now, it is confirmed that Bryan Smith was killed while Sigfried Whitman is wounded," said Mabanta, adding that the army had dispatched troops to pursue the assailants.

The killing of Smith by suspected guerrillas of the New People's Army (NPA) has raised apprehensions of a backlash from U.S. troops who are currently holding exercises with their local counterparts in Fort Magsaysay about 70 km from the site of the incident, and further down south in Zamboanga City. The NPA has recently been included by the U.S. in its list of terrorist organisations.

The apprehensions of possible American action against the NPA are made even more pronounced following President Bush's State of the Union Address on Wednesday warning uncooperative states that the U.S. "is ready to take action" to curb terrorism on their own.

The NPA has not claimed responsibility for the ambush, although its leaders recently warned they would respond if American troops attacked them. Currently, the U.S. presence in the country is geared towards training local armed forces to combat the southern Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf.

Yesterday, several hours after the incident was made known to the public, President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao held a press conference via videophone from New York on the ambush.

Tiglao said the NPA risks aggravating its 'terrorist' tag by the U.S. if indeed it is true that they are behind the ambush.

"We are saddened by the incident. And if it's the NPA, they now risk the perception that it is really a terrorist group," he said. Smith's killing follows an incident involving off-duty U.S. servicemen in June last year.

A group of American soldiers, who were also on a sightseeing tour, were robbed, as were their local military escorts, by armed men who claimed to belong to the NPA.

A U.S. serviceman, Scott Washbush, who was with the group, went missing after that June incident after they fled in different directions. He was later found by natives. But the army seems convinced that the NPA is behind the ambush of Smith and Whitman.

Reports said Smith and Whitman were trekking to Mount Pinatubo when they were ambushed at the foothills close to the dormant volcano in Porac town, Pampanga province.

Despite the leg wound, Whitman was able to flee from his attackers and hike for four more hours. National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the Philippine government is "giving all necessary assistance" and the local police is handling the case. "I'm sure the US and German government are concerned about this," he said.

Both Golez and Tiglao said the incident underscores the need to make secure the U.S. troops and other Americans in the country.