Key defendant in Maguindanao massacre is clan’s heir apparent focus 09/09/2010

Key defendant in Maguindanao massacre is clan’s heir apparent

focus

09/09/2010
MANILA — Feared and loathed by his enemies, Andal Ampatuan Jr. is the heir apparent of a powerful Muslim clan in the southern Philippines whose family history is written in blood.

The chubby, stone-faced man in his 40s with a penchant for expensive guns, is the son and namesake of Andal Ampatuan Sr., the clan patriarch who has ruled Maguindanao province for almost a decade.

Ampatuan Jr. went on trial accused of multiple murder on Wednesday over the November 2009 massacre of 57 persons.

The victims, which included 30 journalists, were shot dead and dumped in mass graves apparently to end a political challenge from a rival clan.

The defendant, who witnesses claim was among the gunmen, denies a role in the killings..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100909com3.html