Kidnappers of Italian priest killed in Philippines

In the past the Philippine military has been accused of conspiring with kidnappers.

MANILA, Philippines -- Five kidnappers of a gang holding an Italian priest have been shot dead by government troops, yet gang members managed to escape with their hostage.

The Philippines military sent to rescue him were not injured as they tried to save Father Guiseppe Pierantoni, after a month in captivity on the southern island of Mindanao.

Officials say the priest, 44, has been abducted by a so-called "lost command" of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and is being held for ransom.

Ten gunmen grabbed him and escaped on two speedboats on October 17, he had just said mass and was having supper in his rectory.

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"We were able to kill five but unluckily the good priest was nowhere to be found," army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jose Mabanta told Reuters.

Mabanta told reporters other members of the 70-man gang were able to slip out, taking Father Pierantoni with them, before the fighting started.

The shootout occurred in Lanao del Norte province on Mindanao Island, 800 km (500 miles) south of Manila.

The Italian priest remains in captivity despite claimed successes by the military following the recent arrests of several of his abductors.

The "lost command" is used in reference to former Muslim separatists who have become bandits, thriving on kidnapping foreigners, businessmen and local officials for ransom in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.

The group currently in question has also been called the Pentagon group.

Manila newspapers said Pierantoni's kidnappers had demanded a ransom of 15 million pesos ($288,000) but the government said it would not negotiate with the kidnappers and would pursue them until Pierantoni was released.

The MILF has denied any involvement in Pierantoni's abduction.

Currently it is holding peace talks with the government, which resumed in June after being suspended in mid-2000 because of an all-out offensive ordered by ousted President Joseph Estrada on the rebels' camps. The MILF is the largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines and has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in southern island of Mindanao since the late 1970s.