Gunmen Want Philippine Army To Stop Pursuit

Gordon said the gunmen made no further demands, adding there was no word on any ransom or political demands.

Three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross held captive in the Philippines called their office on Monday, saying their abductors want the military to suspend rescue operations, a local Red Cross official said.

Philippine security forces have been scouring for four days the interior of the southern island of Jolo where the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic militant group with ties to al Qaeda, was known to be operating.

"They called up this morning to inform their office that they are okay," Richard Gordon, head of the Philippine National Red Cross, told Reuters. "They said their abductors want the military to call off operations."

"They made short calls to inform the ICRC about their conditions," he added.

Gordon said the gunmen made no further demands, adding there was no word on any ransom or political demands.

The Red Cross team has made five brief calls to their office since their abduction on Thursday a few hundred yards (metres) from a prison where they inspected a water and sanitation project.

Jean-Daniel Tauxe, head of the ICRC delegation in Manila, said in a statement the agency has had no direct contact with the abductors so far.

He also said the Red Cross workers were being held together, based on the information they had received.

The ICRC has identified the three kidnap victims as Andreas Notter, a 38-year-old Swiss national; Eugenio Vagni, a 62-year-old Italian and Mary Jean Lacaba, a 37-year-old from the Philippines.

Julasirim Kasi, police chief on Jolo island, said the kidnap was led by Albader Parad, a top leader of the Abu Sayyaf. Police said last week the captives were being held in an area where Parad was known to operate.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked to Jemaah Islamiah and is believed to be sheltering Indonesians wanted for the 2002 Bali bombings, is notorious for demanding large ransoms.

The group is said to have about 350 members based on Jolo and the nearby island of Basilan. It has supporters among the Muslim-dominated local residents but has been largely dormant since its top leaders were killed in a series of encounters with troops in late 2006 and early 2007.