A special operations commander who has led U.S. efforts to help the Philippines beat al-Qaida-linked terrorists in the poverty-stricken southern region of the country has been nominated for a promotion.

The Pentagon yesterday said Maj. Gen. David Fridovich, the Hawai'i-based commander of U.S. Special Operations Command-Pacific, has been nominated for the rank of lieutenant general. The move comes just one year after Fridovich was elevated to major general from brigadier general.

Fridovich is tapped to be the next director of the center for special operations at U.S. Special Operations Command headquarters in Florida. The appointment must be confirmed by the Senate.

The U.S. and Philippine militaries have used a combination of humanitarian work and military tactics to win support of local residents and marginalize terrorists in predominantly Muslim areas of the southern Philippines.

The efforts, launched in 2002, have led to the capture or killing of several high-profile Filipino terrorist leaders. They have also restored enough stability to Basilan, one of the islands in the region, to enable the Philippine army to reduce its presence on the island to two battalions, from 15.

In an article published in Joint Forces Quarterly this year, Fridovich said his command was using an "indirect approach" to defeating terrorists.

"The nation cannot simply enter sovereign countries unilaterally and conduct kill-or-capture missions," Fridovich wrote. "It must blend host nation capacity-building and other long-term efforts to address root causes, dissuade future terrorists and reduce recruiting."

In the Philippines, special operations troops, including Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, have trained Philippine forces to be more effective. U.S.-operated Predator drone airplanes have also offered valuable intelligence on the whereabouts of terrorists.

But Fridovich also told reporters at a special operations conference last year that such military operations were only 15 percent of what needs to be done.

The rest of the work has been humanitarian: helping rebuild schools, giving immunizations, helping build bridges and roads.

Some say the approach offers a model for fighting terrorism that could be applied to Iraq and Afghanistan. But others argue Iraq and Afghanistan are both too violent and volatile for such strategies to be applied there.