South quiet after Philippines suspends offensive

ZAMBOANGA (AFP) - Tensions remained high in the troubled southern Philippines on Sunday, despite the military suspending operations against Muslim separatists accused of killing 14 marines.

A 2,000-member task force assigned to hunt down suspects linked to the killing stayed in place on Basilan island after the government halted the operations until after an investigation into the July 10 attack.

Fourteen marines were killed, 10 of whom were beheaded, as they searched for the kidnappers of an Italian Roman Catholic priest, since freed unharmed.

Colonel Ramiro Alivio, commander of a military brigade deployed in Basilan, said "intelligence operations and security patrols" were continuing but that there have been no large-scale movement of forces by either side and no armed contact has been recorded as of Sunday.

The Muslim separatists have denied mutilating the bodies and rejected a military demand to turn over those behind the attack.

In a statement Sunday, the MILF appealed for help to "calm down the already tense situation," although it added that "massive deployment of troops without prior coordination is a violation of the government-MILF ceasefire agreement."