Word: maguindanao
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...prime suspect behind the massacre, who was taken into custody on Thursday, is a member of one of Mindanao's leading Muslim political clans: the Ampatuans. They are close allies of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration in Manila and rule Maguindanao, a hardscrabble province in an autonomous area for Muslims. Andal Ampatuan Jr., a Maguindanao mayor in his 40s, was expected to be charged with murder, according to local reports, quoting justice authorities. Ampatuan denies involvement: "The reason I came out is to prove that I am not hiding and that I am not guilty," he told local reporters...
...through a banana grove, a large force of gunmen - reports say around 100 - intercepted the convoy of family members and supporters of Buluan vice-mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, also from a prominent local Muslim clan. They were on their way to the provincial capital to file his candidacy papers for Maguindanao's governorship in next year's general elections. It's a position that Ampatuan's father had occupied unopposed since 2001 and which Ampatuan planned to contest to keep the seat in the family. The Mangudadatu group was herded to what appears to have been a prepared killing ground...
...statement earlier this year, the MILF disavowed connection with al-Khobar. But an al-Khobar member arrested in February reportedly told police that, although the gang was not officially connected to the MILF, it was run by a rogue MILF commander operating in Maguindanao, a province controlled by the MILF. The arrested man told police that, as they suspected, the group had carried out numerous bombings in southern Mindanao to extort money. Jones says some of that money may be funding MILF fighters. Al-Khobar's "extortion is criminality on one level, but it also seems to be done...
...loving father who spoon-fed their young children and, even when on the run, insisted the whole family gather for meals. Istie claims that after arriving in the Philippines, Dulmatin and Patek traveled by small ferries and boats to the south, eventually settling in remote houses in Maguindanao in late...
...late 50s, resembles a thriving small-town businessman rather than a guerrilla leader. But there's no doubt about his authority over the 100 uniformed and heavily armed fighters who escorted the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (M.I.L.F.) chairman during an exclusive interview with TIME in Maguindanao province last week, his first since becoming the group's leader a year ago following the death of its founder, Hashim Salamat. Several dozen soldiers stand for nearly an hour with parade-ground stiffness until Murad gives a casual wave and a murmured command. The entire assembly immediately slumps to the ground with relief...