Gov’t to hunt marines’ killers, won’t junk peace talks

MANILA — While stressing her administration’s determination to pursue the peace process to attain permanent peace in Mindanao, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today the government will not allow groups or people committing “barbaric acts to hide under the negotiating table.”

In a statement, the President reiterated that the people responsible for the brutal killing of the 14 Marines in Basilan last Tuesday must be brought to justice.

“We will run after those who killed our Marines but we will not run away from the peace talks,” the President said, adding that “Our desire to see the killers punished is matched only by our determination to forge peace.”

The Marines were ambushed in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan as they were verifying reports that the abducted Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi was being held in the area.

The President had earlier ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) “to hunt down and arrest those who have treacherously killed” the soldiers, 10 of whom were beheaded.

The military said the attack was perpetrated by a joint force of Islamic militants from the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf Group.

” We will not allow those who committed barbaric acts to hide under the negotiating table. Only principled warriors deserve a seat on it,” President Arroyo said, referring to the government’s ongoing quest for a lasting peace in Mindanao.