Graphic videos shown in Philippine massacre trial

State prosecutors on Wednesday showed graphic video images of mangled bodies of dozens of victims of a pre-election massacre in the southern Philippines as they pressed their opposition to bail for the main suspect.

Two 90-minute videotapes were shown at the resumption of the murder trial of Andal Ampatuan Jr., who is accused of leading the Nov. 23 slaughter of 57 people, including journalists and relatives and supporters of his political rival.

A sister of one of the victims wept openly on seeing the images and was led out of the courtroom while a private prosecutor rushed out of the courtroom upon seeing the imaes and suddenly falling ill.

State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera told the court the "graphic, gruesome and lurid images" of the victims were meant to corroborate last week's testimony of Rasul Sangki, vice mayor of Ampatuan township in southern Maguindanao province, where the killings took place.

Sangki had testified he saw Ampatuan and dozens of gunmen shoot the victims at close range after they were stopped on their way to file candidacy documents for Esmael Mangudadatu, a political rival of Ampatuan's who was launching a bid for provincial governor.

Jerry Atanoso, the official government cameraman o nearby Sultan Kudarat province, testified he was sent by Gov. Suharto Mangudadatu - a cousin of Mangudadatu's - to the massacre site to accompany investigators a day after the killings.

The video images showed bullet-riddled bodies scattered on the ground around several vehicles. Others victims were shown being retrieved from three mass graves. Three crushed vehicles were found along with several bodies in one of the pits dug by a backhoe.

Earlier, Sangki testified that the victims pleaded for their lives on their knees. The gunmen continued to shoot those who had fallen "to make sure they will not survive" he said.

Ampatuan showed no emotion, occasionally yawning, as he watched the video.

Atanoso and Sangki are among eight prosecution witnesses testifying against a request for bail filed by Ampatuan, who pleaded not guilty to multiple murder charges during arraignment two weeks earlier.

Among these killed were at least 30 journalists and their staff in what is not only considered the world's deadliest single attack on media workers but also the worst election violence ever in the Philippines.

The carnage has sparked international outrage, prompting President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to briefly impose martial law in Maguindanao to crack down on the powerful Ampatuan clan - once a key political ally - and its private army.

Arroyo's political backing of the clan, which helped her win the 2004 elections, had allowed the Ampatuans to maintain their iron grip on Maguindanao, a predominantly Muslim provincabout 560 miles (900 kilometers) south of Manila, the International Crisis Group, a prominent think tank, said last month.

The Ampatuans were expelled from Arroyo's ruling party after the killings.