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| Southeast Asia |
| Arroyo vows justice |
| 2009-11-26 |
| PHILIPPINE President Gloria Arroyo on Wednesday vowed to hunt down the perpetrators of a political massacre that left 52 people dead, as one of her allies was named the prime suspect. Mrs Arroyo faced increasing pressure to take decisive action as more bodies were pulled out of shallow graves and relatives of the victims reported horrifying details of the killings, including that two women shot dead were pregnant. 'This is a supreme act of inhumanity that is a blight on our nation,' she said in a statement as she declared Wednesday a national day of mourning. 'The perpetrators will not escape justice. The law will hunt them until they are caught. No citizen in our nation should ever have to fear for his or her life in the free expression of political will.' Police earlier said the top suspect in the massacre was Andal Ampatuan Jr, a member of Mrs Arroyo's ruling coalition and the son of a powerful regional politician who has helped secure votes for the president in previous elections. 'According to the initial reports, those who were abducted and murdered at Saniag were initially stopped by a group led by the mayor of Datu Unsay,' national police spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina said. Ampatuan Jr is the mayor of Datu Unsay in Maguindanao province, a lawless part of the southern Philippines where Muslim clans have long waged vicious campaigns against each other to grab power. His father of the same name is the provincial governor who commands his own private army and is also a member of the ruling Lakas Kampi CMD coalition. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 It's been getting sporty out there as of late. Crackdown is imminent. |
| Posted by: newc 2009-11-26 17:41 |