Police in the Philippines say they have identified 161 suspects wanted in connection with the massacre¹ of 57 people on Mindanao island last month.

菲律宾警方称，他们已经确定161名嫌疑犯与棉兰老岛上月发生的57人大屠杀有关。

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The province has been placed under martial law

Among the wanted people are government militiamen民兵组织 and members of the powerful Ampatuan clan³ in Maguindanao province.

Police say clan leader and local mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr organised the attack and killed many of the victims himself.

The government has declared martial law戒严 in the province to quell镇压 what it said was a rebellion by the Ampatuan clan.

"We have to resolve this case peacefully," national police chief Jesus Verzosa was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

"We are urging them to surrender and then the normal processes of the law and prosecution⁵ should be held," he said.

"This is what we are trying to tell everybody - that we must be governed by laws and the rule of laws must be respected."

Among the 57 people who died in the attack on 23 November were members of a rival clan and 30 journalists.

Mr Versoza said witnesses had identified Mr Ampatuan Jr as the leader of the attack, said AP.

He is in police detention⁶ and has been charged with 25 counts of murder.

Prosecutors⁷ have issued subpoenas⁸传票 to other six members of the Ampatuan family, including Mr Ampatuan's father, to appear at a hearing on 18 December.

They deny any involvement in the attack on a political rival's convoy⁹护送，警卫 and have not yet been charged.

A state of martial law was declared in the province on Saturday after the government said it had intelligence that armed groups were plotting an offensive.

It is the first time martial law has been used in the country since the fall of autocrat¹⁰独裁者 Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.