Philippines says closing in on captive priest

MANILA, June 18 (Reuters) Philippine troops and Muslim rebels talking peace with the government have surrounded an area where gunmen are holding an Italian priest, a Marine general said today, adding negotiations were underway to free the captive.

Major-General Benjamin Dolorfino said two battalions of soldiers and a number of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas had closed in on a 15-member kidnap-for-ransom group behind the abduction of Giancarlo Bossi on June 10.

The Milan-born priest from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions was seized from a small town in the southern Philippines just after he had just celebrated Sunday mass.

''What I can say is the kidnappers' area has been located,'' Dolorfino told reporters, adding a group of soldiers and rebels had surrounded the location to pressure the kidnappers to free the priest unharmed.

He did not identify the area but added: ''Bossi is in good health. He is okay but appeared tired from a long walk.'' MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said his group was negotiating to free Bossi but requested soldiers to pull back because it was making the gunmen holding the priest ''nervous''.

''We want to end this kidnapping without the use of force,'' Kabalu told reporters, adding the MILF was ready to exert more pressure if the priest was not released soon.

''Our forces are on top of the situation and we're requesting the soldiers to pull back because it could jeopardise the ongoing negotiations.'' The 57-year-old priest has been in the Philippines since 1980 and was assigned as parish priest of Payao, a coastal town in Zamboanga Sibugay province on Mindanao island.

The MILF, which has a shaky peace deal with the government, has denied involvement in the kidnapping, saying the leader of the alleged captors had links with Abu Sayyaf, a militant group with ties to Jemaah Islamiah and al Qaeda.

Today, Kabalu said the MILF had identified Bossi's kidnappers as members of a new group involved in kidnappings, extortions and robberies in the Zamboanga area.

Kabalu said the MILF has been helping the government's security forces target kidnap-for-ransom gangs in the south based on an agreement in May 2002.

REUTERS RN PM1343