Clan feud in southern Philippines kills 25

MANILA, June 27 (Reuters) At least 25 people have been killed in the southern Philippines in fighting between a local Muslim clan and mountain tribesmen over a land dispute, an army spokesman said today.

Captain Jose Pabilonia said hundreds of villagers in Bukidnon province on the southern island of Mindanao had fled their homes since the feud began in the remote area last week.

''We've sent a team of soldiers and police officers to break up the two warring groups,'' Pabilonia told reporters. ''Unless the land dispute is resolved soon, these warring groups would keep on killing each other for years to come.'' He said 23 Muslims and two mountain tribesmen had died.

Four tribesmen were wounded.

Clan wars, known locally as ''rido'', are common in communities in the southern Philippines, and analysts say they pose a threat to a fragile 21-month truce between the government and Muslim separatist guerrillas.

Studies funded by the Asia Foundation and the US Agency for International Development found there had been more than 1,200 clan feuds in the south since 1930s, killing nearly 5,000 people and displacing tens of thousands.

REUTERS SY PC1328