ZAMBOANGA CITY: Gunmen holding dozens hostage in the northern part of Mindanao Island in southern Philippines have agreed to surrender after the government said it would consider at least some of their demands.

Hostage negotiators plan to escort the kidnappers down from their mountain hideout on Sunday morning in Agusan del Sur province, when the group also plan to hand over their captives, said the crisis team’s spokesman, Alfredo Plaza.

“The group of (Ondo) Perez will surrender. We will fetch them at 7 a.m. tomorrow (2300 GMT Saturday),” Plaza told reporters after a series of meetings between government, military, and police officials.

The government had earlier Saturday reviewed the kidnappers’ demands in a bid to bring a peaceful resolution to the siege, now in its third day.

The gunmen, former guerrillas and members of the mountain-dwelling Manobo tribe, raided a school in a small farming village in the Agusan valley region on Thursday and took 75 hostages. Twenty-eight, including 18 children, were later freed.

About 400 soldiers and police were deployed amid concern that the kidnappers would harm the hostages, who have been forced to sleep on the ground, according to government officials who visited the area.

The negotiations center around an inter-tribal conflict between two rival leaders, Plaza said.

Also on Sunday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo lifted martial law in Maguindanao, a province in the southern part of the island where 57 people were massacred last month.

A regional army spokesman, however, said the state of emergency will continue in Maguindanao as security forces continue to pursue more than 2,000 armed followers of the powerful Ampatuan political clan linked to the massacre last month.

“We will continue with our operations to track down more than 2,000 gunmen who are followers of the Ampatuan clan. Although the president ordered the lifting of the martial law in Maguindanao, the whole province is still in the state of emergency,” said Col. Jonathan Ponce said.

Arroyo imposed martial law on Maguindanao as authorities pursued the followers of the Ampatuans who were linked to the brutal slaying of 57 people, including 30 journalists on Nov. 23.

The chief suspect in the massacre, Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay town, surrendered three days after the murders and denied involvement in the attack and pointed the finger at the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Authorities rejected the allegations, saying witnesses identified him as the leader of the group that abducted and massacred the 57 people.

The Ampatuans, notorious for running a large private army, have previously been allied with Arroyo, who received crucial votes from the volatile southern region during 2004 elections. Arroyo’s ruling party expelled the clan after the massacre.

Under the post-Marcos constitution, Arroyo can enforce martial law for 60 days, unless Congress revokes or extends it.

The martial law declaration, however, came under fire from critics, who expressed concern that Arroyo was laying the groundwork for a wider martial rule to extend her rule.

Former President Fidel Ramos, who was a supporter of Arroyo but has recently been critical of her actions, described her move as “overkill.”

In Saturday’s announcement, Ermita cited military reports as saying heavily armed supporters of the Ampatuans had “plans to undertake hostile action” if clan members were arrested.