At least 21 dead in Philippine political massacre

AT LEAST 21 people were murdered in southern Philippines yesterday in a shocking massacre that the military and relatives of the victims said was likely linked to a political rivalry.

Local journalists and supporters of a local politician in Maguindanao province were among those murdered, with some of them beheaded and mutilated, the military and relatives said.

Armed forces spokesman Lt Colonel Romeo Brawner said the bodies of 21 people had been recovered, 13 of whom were women, and that the death toll was likely to rise.

"We believe more bodies are buried in the ground and we are trying to recover them," Brawner said in an interview with the ABS-CBN television network.

Brawner said earlier that gunmen linked to a powerful politician had seized a group of about 40 people, made up of members of a rival political clan and the media, who had been travelling to an electoral office yesterday morning.

The leader of the rival political clan, Esmael Mangudadatu, had been meaning to nominate for the governorship of the mainly Muslim Maguindanao province for next year's elections.

He was not in the group that was abducted. But his wife was in the group and had been intending to lodge his nomination for him.

The Mangudadatu clan is known to have a long-running feud with the family of Maguindanao's incumbent governor Andal Ampatuan, who police say is known to control his own private army.

Mangudadatu said his wife was among those killed and that many of the victims had been mutilated.

"Their private parts were showing, their heads were crushed, they were mutilated," he told ABS-CBN, as he blamed Ampatuan clan for the killings.

Before the bodies were recovered, Brawner said gunman linked to Ampatuan had abducted the group.

Although he would not say afterwards that the Ampatuan clan was responsible for the killings, he said it was a strong suspect.

"Right now that's the angle we're looking at. The abduction of the Mangudadato family members by the elements of the Ampatuans is due to a political feud," Brawner said.

Revenge killings and clashes among rival political clans are common in Maguindanao and other parts of Mindanao island, where unlicensed firearms proliferate and a Muslim insurgency has waged for decades.

The Philippines is also regarded as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists.

However the scale of yesterday's slaughter sent immediate shock waves through the country.

"This is a gruesome massacre of civilians unequalled in recent history," said Jess Dureza, President Gloria Arroyo's adviser on the strife-torn southern island of Mindanao.

"There must be a total stop to this senseless violence. I strongly recommend that a state of emergency be imposed in the area and everyone be disarmed. Anything less will not work."

Arroyo's office later released a statement saying no effort would be spared to bring justice to the victims.AFP