Main suspect in Philippine massacre surrenders

Wed Nov 25, 2009 11:38pm EST

(Adds government takes in top suspect)

MANILA, Nov 26 (Reuters) - A member of a powerful political family in the southern Philippines, suspected to be behind the massacre of 57 people in an election-related feud, surrendered to police on Thursday, an army official said.

Andal Ampatuan Jr, who is a mayor of Datu Unsay town, was flown out by an army helicopter from the capital of Maguindanao province, where he was handed over by his brother to a senior government official and the top military general in the region.

The surrender came days after about 100 armed men attacked a convoy carrying members of the rival Mangudadatus family who were on their way to file the candidacy of one of the family for the provincial governor's post in elections next year.

Not all the victims have been identified but 22 of them were believed to be journalists accompanying the family, making Monday's attack on their convoy in the troubled south the deadliest ever on the media anywhere in the world.

Clan wars are common in the southern Philippines, and the Mangudadatus have blamed supporters of the Ampatuans for the killings. Andal Ampatuan had also been planning to contest the governorship, newspapers have said.

"We have him under our custody. He was handed over by his brother to Secretary Jess Dureza," Lieutenant-General Raymundo Ferrer told Reuters, referring to Andal Ampatuan.

"I haven't seen any arrest warrant, so we can only say he voluntarily submitted himself for investigation."

Earlier, security forces took control of two towns in Maguindanao province, where the Ampatuan family wields immense power, and arrested 20 men linked to the killings.

Soldiers also disarmed a 300-member para-military force under the control of the Ampatuans.

There are no charges yet against Ampatuan, but newspapers have quoted witnesses as saying he was at the scene at the time of the killings.

The attackers herded the victims to a remote hillside and attacked them with M-16 rifles and machetes. At least 10 of those killed where motorists who were passing by on the highway and had apparently witnessed the abduction.

On Wednesday, the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD party expelled Andal Ampatuan, his father and brother from the alliance.

Andal Ampatuan Sr. has been elected governor of Maguindanao three times previously while the other son Zaldy is governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which covers six southern provinces. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Sanjeev Miglani)

((manuel.mogato@thomsonreuters.com; +63 2 841 8913; Reuters Messaging: manuel.mogato.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((If you have a comment or query on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))

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