ZAMBOANGA CITY, 16 July 2007 — As military commanders hinted of an offensive in the southern island of Basilan against militants who beheaded 10 soldiers, a separatist official yesterday appealed for restraint so as not to imperil the peace process.

Khaled Musa, deputy chairman the MILF’s information committee, warned that a “collective punishment” of the attackers might result in civilian casualties.

On Friday, a Marine battalion arrived in Basilan to augment two brigades of troops in preparation for “punitive actions” against the band who attacked the troops in Al-Barka town on July 10.

Maj. Gen. Nelson Allaga, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said yesterday the hunt for those who beheaded and mutilated the soldiers will make “no distinction” between the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf.

“There should be no distinction on the identity of the attackers,” said Allaga, who noted that in the place where his men were attacked, MILF and Abu Sayyaf have all banded together with other lawless elements.

Allaga said the military and the police have an “initial list” of suspects behind the attack, but he refused to give names.

A small convoy of Marines were sent to Al Barka town’s village of Ginanta last Tuesday to check reports that kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi was taken to the place.

After a fruitless search, they decided to leave but were ambushed on a jungle road. Of the 14 soldiers who were killed in nine hours of fighting, 10 were later found without their heads and genitals.

More Than Barbaric

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales described the beheadings as “

more than barbaric.”

“It’s really inhuman. Those who do these kinds of things are not humans,” Rosales told the Church-run Radio Veritas in an interview yesterday.

“Whoever did this, and I’m not naming anyone, but anybody who does this, cannot be considered human,” Rosales added.

Rosales said it saddened him that there were Filipinos who could do such a dastardly act.

Rosales said the killers who were claiming to have a God must have lost their minds. “You’re losing your conscience too. If that’s the case, even a snake will be afraid of you. Even evil will be afraid of you,” Rosales said.

Rosales said the carnage could never be justified through religion, culture or cause. “It (the brutality) can never be justified,” he said.

Last Friday, the country’s Catholic bishops also condemned and branded the attack as “barbaric.”

Un-Islamic Also

While military officials were quick to blame the attack on Abu Sayyaf militants, who had been involved in beheadings in the past, the MILF claimed responsibility for the attack and said only their fighters were involved.

But MILF leaders also condemned the decapitations as “un-Islamic acts” that were not tolerated by the separatist group.

“A three-member panel is investigating to pinpoint responsibility,” MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said on Saturday.

Kabalu had called on the government to restrain its forces so as not to destroy whatever gains have been made in six years of peace talks between Manila and the MILF.

Allaga said the Al-Barka firefight was briefly halted after international cease-fire monitors, who were with the Marines, called for a cease-fire.

But the attackers again opened fire, thinking the Marines were preparing to counterattack.

It turned out the troops were only moving their trucks, which had been stuck in the mud, Allaga said. (With input from INS & Agencies)