A rebel group in the Philippines has denied that one of its commanders is holding kidnapped Irish priest Fr Michael Sinnott.
The separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front also said it is willing to help rescue the 79-year-old Columban missionary.
MILF revealed yesterday that Fr Sinnott is being held in a remote area.
'We do not deny the fact that there is a presence of the MILF in the area and a MILF community there but it is not true that the MILF is holding the priest,' the group's spokesman, Eid Kabalu, said today.
Mr Kabalu also said the MILF was sending an emissary to Sultan Naga Dimaporo town, where the military said Fr Sinnott was being held, to check if the priest was really there and try to secure his release.
Fr Sinnott was abducted when six armed men entered his home at the Missionary Society of Saint Columban compound in Pagadian City on southern Mindanao island.
The government and the MILF have had a ceasefire in place since 2005 and the two sides are due to resume peace talks soon.
The MILF, which has been fighting for an independent Muslim homeland in the south of the mostly Roman Catholic country since 1978, has said it had no interest in kidnapping Fr Sinnott because that would jeopardise peace talks.
There is concern over the priest’s health as he had quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2005 and has taken heart medication ever since.
Fr Sinnott has spent about 40 years in the Philippines.
