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Raissa Robles

Muslim separatists yesterday joined a massive search for an Italian priest allegedly abducted by one of their renegade commanders in the southern Philippines.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) and the military said the  abduction of Father Giancarlo Bossi,  57, from a coastal village in Zamboanga, in Sibugay province, on Sunday would not sour peace negotiations.

Armed forces chief-of-staff General Hermogenes Esperon  said: 'The peace talks are so secure ... so I think there would be no problem' despite the kidnapping. Chief rebel peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal  agreed.

The determination to continue co-operating followed a forum on Saturday when both sides faced each other for the first time.

Army colonels and their  rebel counterparts met in  Cotabato City 'to further explore the peace process and the ceasefire mechanism', Mr Iqbal said.

Mr Iqbal  said initial reports identified the kidnapper as former separatist commander Abdusalam Akiddin,  who goes by the pseudonym Commander Kiddie.

'Commander Kiddie is definitely not with the Milf but a member of the [al-Qaeda-linked] Abu Sayyaf operating in Zamboanga peninsula,' Mr Iqbal said.

The priest's  abduction is  an embarrassment to the government, coming ahead  of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Rome visit to seek the blessing of Pope Benedict.

Hours after the snatching of Father Bossi, a missionary of the Rome-based Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, the Pope  condemned all abductions  and pleaded for the release of all captives.

The abduction also came three days after the United States embassy in Manila paid  US$10 million to four former Abu Sayyaf members for betraying  their chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani  and his deputy  Abu Solaiman.  Both men were killed in separate military encounters.



Rebels join army in search for abducted Italian missionary