Rebels join hunt for kidnapped priest

ARMED FORCES tracking kidnapped Irish priest Fr Michael Sinnott in the Philippines say they know where the missing cleric is being held, and the largest rebel group in the Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf), has reportedly sent troops to help locate the 79-year-old missionary.

“We have already located the exact place where Father Sinnott was taken. We are not conducting a rescue operation because we want to give a chance for the peaceful recovery of the hostaged priest,” said Maj Gen Benjamin Dolorfino, the top military official in the region.

The statements appear to offer some hope that the Wexford-born priest, who has a heart condition, may be released.

Maj Gen Dolorfino reiterated that the kidnappers had been in touch with the Columbans, a point strenuously denied by both the order in Dublin and by local Columbans in the Philippines.

Maj Gen Dolorfino would not identify the kidnappers, or elaborate on who exactly they contacted, but said they were responding to appeals that Fr Sinnott’s life was in danger without daily medication for his heart.

“The kidnappers have sent . . . some feelers. The contact was more on medicine,” he said.

Milf is behind high-profile kidnapping and bombings in the country, although it denies any involvement in Fr Sinnott’s abduction. The group has been fighting for a separate homeland for minority Muslims in the predominantly Catholic nation’s south.

Fr Sinnott was violently abducted by armed men from his home in Pagadian City on Sunday. The priest has recently undergone heart bypass surgery and did not have his medicines on him when gunmen dragged him from the garden of his house.

Authorities distributed flyers yesterday in Pagadian City and in the province, across the bay from where Fr Sinnott was kidnapped on Sunday, with telephone numbers which the kidnappers can call to arrange for medicine to be sent, Maj Gen Dolorfino said.

The kidnappers, with help from a local pirate, apparently took Fr Sinnott to an area under the control of a local Milf rebel commander. The army is now trying to enlist the help of the rebel leader to get him back.

“The least he can do is to drive away the kidnappers if he is not involved, and the most he can do is to help us capture them,” Maj Gen Dolorfino said of the rebel commander.

Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu told the Philippines Star they were also verifying reports that the missionary had been turned over by his captors to Latip Jamat, a rebel commander operating in the province of Lanao del Norte.

Mr Kabalu said the rebel leader was part of their 113th base command operating in the region. He insisted, however, that the rebels were not holding the priest.

Fr Sinnott’s abductors took him by motorised boat into Lanao del Sur, an area known as a rebel stronghold.

Rebel leader Mohagher Iqbal promised this week to help following the concerns for Fr Sinnott’s health. Armed groups are known to operate in the region, including the extremist Abu Sayyaf.