ZAMBOANGA (Philippines) Oct 17: Eight gunmen seized an Italian priest while he was saying mass on Wednesday evening in a church in the southern Philippines, close to where Muslim guerrillas are holding a US missionary couple.

Father Giuseppi Piarantoni was kidnapped in the coastal town of Dimataling in Zamboanga del Sur province while troops pursued Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who have been holding two US missionaries and eight Filipinos hostage for months on nearby Basilan island.

The military said it was unclear whether the eight men who abducted the priest belonged to the Abu Sayyaf or whether they were members of another group active in this violence-ridden area of the southern Philippines.

“The gunmen barged into the church at around 7 p.m. (1100 GMT) and took away the priest,” southern military commander Lieutenant-General Roy Cimatu told reporters in Zamboanga.

The group, with their captive, fled in a speedboat and patrol boats are now searching for them among the numerous small islands around Zamboanga, Cimatu said.

Coastal towns in the Zamboanga peninsula have been the targets of raids in the past several years by various Muslim separatist factions and by kidnap for ransom gangs.

On Basilan, about 20 km from Zamboanga city, government forces have been on an offensive for days against the Abu Sayyaf, who have been holding American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and eight Filipinos hostage for more than four months.

Philippine and US officials have linked the Abu Sayyaf to Osama bin Laden, whom the United States has accused of masterminding last month’s devastating air attacks on New York and Washington.

The military says it has killed at least 40 Abu Sayyaf gunmen since launching a fresh offensive against them about 10 days ago.

An Abu Sayyaf spokesman, speaking on local radio earlier this week, demanded an end to the military offensive and warned the guerrillas would strike in other areas if it did not cease.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo rejected the demand and said the military attacks on Abu Sayyaf hideouts would continue.—Reuters