MANILA • A European Union team is due in the Philippines yesterday to help investigations into a spate of political murders blamed by a UN envoy on members of the military, the EU ambassador said.

Forensics and witness-protection experts as well as police have been sent after a government request last month, said Alistair MacDonald, the EU's head of delegation here.

"The mission will proceed very quickly. We expect them shortly," MacDonald told reporters.

"This is a very technical issue. This is an expert mission to identify needs of support. It's not an investigation. We will bring experts in the field to identify the kind of support we can provide," he added.

MacDonald said it was the Philippine government's responsibility to find the killers and protect its citizens.

"First, stop the killings and second investigate and identify and bring to justice those who have been carrying them out," MacDonald said.

Local human rights group Karapatan has documented more than 800 murders of political activists, church workers, members of the judiciary and media since President Gloria Arroyo assumed power in 2001.

The group said the military was responsible for the killings, a statement which alarmed the international community.

In February Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, interviewed victims' families and concluded that certain elements of the military were behind the attacks.

He said the culture of impunity has also scared witnesses from giving evidence, and called on Arroyo to do more to stop the murders.

Arroyo in response ordered the creation of special courts to handle the cases and told military chiefs to investigate its ranks.

The military has denied any involvement and blamed communist guerrillas for the deaths.