ZAMBOANGA CITY, 20 December 2003 — Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels have mounted its own offensive yesterday against members of the dreaded Pentagon kidnap gang, believed to be holding a wealthy car dealer in the southern Philippines, a spokesman for the group said.

Guerrillas have been ordered to pursue the kidnappers and rescue the 24-year old hostage Norman Sia in Maguindanao province, a day after the MILF freed four government soldiers it captured in a firefight in Datu Piang town.

“We are helping the government pursue the kidnappers and rescue the hostage. This move is in accordance to an agreement the MILF has signed with the Arroyo government,” MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told Arab News.

Kabalu did not say how many rebel soldiers were sent to hunt down gang members. He claimed they have already identified the leader of the kidnappers holding Sia. “We wil get them sooner or later,” he said.

He said the MILF would immediately hand over any captured Pentagon gang members to the government.

“There is an agreement that the MILF would help the government hunt down criminals and lawless elements hiding inside rebel territories and we are abiding with this accord,” Kabalu said.

Fighting between security and MILF forces erupted last Saturday after soldiers pursuing the kidnappers entered rebel strongholds in the towns of Talitay, Datu Ampatuan and Datu Piang.

Three days of fighting that ensued left dozens dead and wounded on both sides.

On Thursday, the MILF handed four fprisoners to the government’s cease-fire committee headed by Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, the military’s vice chief of staff, shortly before 5 p.m. in the village of Gawang in Datu Piang.

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff, gen. Narciso Abaya, noted that rebel commanders and their men moved out of their positions to a “temporary area” in Datu Piang at the same time that the MILF released their prisoners.

A military spokesman, Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, said the operation against the Pentagon gang will continue.

Philippine authorities have repeatedly accused the MILF of ties with the Al-Qaeda and the Indonesia-based Jemaan Islamiya terror network, but rebel leaders strongly denied this.

President Gloria Arroyo on Wednesday said the peace talks with the MILF would continue next month in Malaysia, which is mediating the talks, despite the series of hostilities between troops and rebels.

“This is an isolated situation that will not derail the peace process,” Arroyo said in a press statement.