Philippines charges massacre suspect with murder

By Manny Mogato

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine police filed murder charges Thursday against the main suspect in the massacre of 57 people in the south of the country this week as authorities moved to dismantle his clan's control over the region.

Andal Ampatuan Jr, a local mayor in Maguindanao province, came face to face with Esmael Mangudadatu, husband of one of the women murdered, who filed multiple murder complaints before state prosecutors in southern General Santos City.

Ampatuan was flown out from Maguindanao province by an army helicopter after he was handed over by his brother to a senior government official and a top regional army general.

"The charges are baseless," Ampatuan told reporters at the airport in General Santos. "They are not true. My conscience is clear."

Authorities said Ampatuan would be held in a prison in Manila while undergoing investigation by state prosecutors in advance of the complaint going before a local court.

Monday, about 100 armed men attacked a convoy carrying members of the Mangudadatu clan, who were on their way to file the candidacy of Esmael for the provincial governor's post in elections next year.

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

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