Peace monitors arrive in southern Philippines

MANILA, July 12 (Reuters) A tense ceasefire prevailed as peace monitors arrived on a southern Philippine island today to investigate heavy fighting in which at least 14 marines were killed.

A nine-hour gunbattle erupted on Tuesday on the island of Basilan between troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group in the country, despite ongoing peace talks.

The military says the marines were ambushed by hundreds of armed men and that 10 of those killed were beheaded. Rebels say troops entered one of their camps without permission, but added they will investigate the beheadings.

Military chief General Hermogenes Esperon told a news conference that fighting had died down because the troops were honouring the ceasefire agreement with the MILF.

''We cannot simply go after them because of the peace process,'' he said. ''It is sad enough that we lost 14 soldiers.

We don't want other things to be the casualties in this incident.

''But, don't interpret that as a sign of weakness of the government.'' Peace panels from both sides, and a team of Malaysian-led ceasefire monitors, will investigate and identify those responsible for the beheadings, he said.

''Once the perpetrators of these barbaric acts are known, we will go after them,'' Esperon said.

The ceasefire between the military and the MILF, which has been in place since 2003, has been occasionally broken, but Tuesday's fighting was one of the most serious violations.

''The talks will continue and resume as soon as the Malaysians gave us the go signal,'' said Jesus Dureza, the presidential adviser on the process.

Basilan is also home to the Abu Sayyaf, a smaller but deadlier rebel group than the MILF. The government has vowed to annihilate the Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for the worst terrorist attack in the Philippines -- the bombing of a passenger ferry in 2004 in which more than 100 people were killed.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the military was ''duty bound to hunt down and arrest those who treacherously killed and beheaded the soldiers''.

''If the perpetrators are Abu Sayyaf, the MILF must stand apart from these terrorists and allow their pursuit and interdiction by government forces,'' she said in a statement.

''If MILF forces are culpable, then they must be accounted for by the ceasefire committee and brought to justice. There can be no excuses or alibis for these acts of savagery.'' REUTERS AE VC1412