October 14, 2009, GMA News, 6:52 PM, Govt asks MILF to help free Irish priest,

October 14, 2009, GMA News, 6:52 PM, Govt asks MILF to help free Irish priest, 

The Philippine government asked a large Muslim rebel group Wednesday to help secure the freedom of an ailing Irish priest kidnapped by outlaws, as troops surrounded a jungle logging area where he was being held.

The 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) pledged to work for the release of the Rev. Michael Sinnott, said rebel leader Mohagher Iqbal. [See: Wanted MILF leader offers help to locate abducted Irish priest]

Sinnot was seized by gunmen from his house in southern Zamboanga del Sur province Sunday and taken to an old mountain logging camp in nearby Lanao Del Sur province, military and rebel leaders said.

The military has not ruled out the possibility that the abductors could be Muslim rebels who disobeyed a guerrilla edict prohibiting ransom kidnappings and other acts of banditry, said Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, chief of the military's Western Mindanao Command. [See:Abducted Irish priest not with us - MILF official]