4 marines killed in Philippine rebel ambush

FOUR marines were killed yesterday when suspected Islamic rebels attacked their encampment on a southern Philippine island, a regional military spokesman said.

Ten more marines were wounded in the fighting that erupted when suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels fired mortars at the marines encampment in Patikul town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, Major Eugene Batara said.

Batara said no casualties were reported on the enemy side.

The attack occurred as military troops intensified operations against two renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commanders in the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte on the strife-torn nearby island of Mindanao.

The two MILF commanders have been blamed for leading attacks on towns and villages that left dozens of civilians dead and displaced more than 360,000.

The hostilities flared up after the Supreme Court this month stopped the government and MILF peace negotiators from signing an agreement that would have expanded a Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.

The Philippine government eventually scrapped the deal amid strong opposition by Catholic politicians, but the MILF insisted that the government should honour the agreement, which was negotiated for more than four years.

The head of the Philippine military yesterday assailed the leadership of the country's main Muslim rebel group for not stopping a wave of attacks by Muslim rebels.

General Alexander Yano said the failure of the leaders of the MILF to prevent two commanders from occupying Christian towns in the south was endangering the peace process between the government and the MILF. "It is shameful that MILF has chosen to look the other way when its members committed unspeakable atrocities," Yano said on a visit to the southern Philippines to brief businessmen in what the government was doing to stabilise the region. He added it was "despicable" that the MILF were apparently using the violence to "blackmail the government and the Filipino people" in the peace talks.

MILF commanders Umbra Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar, also known as Commander Bravo, led hundreds of their men in occupying Christian villages earlier this month, killing dozens of civilians and looting and burning houses.

Agencies