Hostage priest freed in Philippines

Doctors said the priest was in good health

Troops in the Philippines have rescued a kidnapped Italian priest who had been held on the southern island of Mindanao for six months.

There was a miracle for me to get free and without any harm, without any suffering

Father Giuseppe Pierantoni

Father Giuseppe Pierantoni was released by his captors after fierce fighting between the kidnappers and government forces.

He was kidnapped in October by a gang of bandits called the Pentagon.

The military says the group is mainly made up of former members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating peace with the government.

The Roman Catholic priest, who marked his 45th birthday in captivity in January, was flown to Manila to meet President Gloria Arroyo shortly after his rescue, which took place at about 0200 local time (1800 GMT Sunday).

He said he was grateful to God and the Philippines Government for his life.

"There was a miracle for me to get free and without any harm, without any suffering," he told reporters. In an emotional reunion with his colleagues from the Sacred Heart of Jesus order in Manila, he said he was "already in paradise".

But Mr Pierantoni, from Bologna, said he was "a bit confused and very tired" after being forced to walk for 12 hours on Sunday as troops closed in on his captors.

Brigadier General Angel Atutubo, chief of an army task force, said three Pentagon members who were arrested on Friday had given the army information which led them to a rebel safe house in Tungawan where Mr Pierantoni was held.

Police and military raided the house early on Monday, forcing the rebels to let the priest go as they fled.

President's hopes

The authorities said they had not paid a ransom of nearly $200,000 demanded by the kidnappers.

US special forces are in Basilan

National Police Chief Alejandro Mendoza said police captured several Pentagon members two days ago and obtained details about the priest's whereabouts.

He was rescued near the coastal town of Tungawan, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) north-east of Zamboanga City.

President Arroyo said Father Pierantoni's rescue was a big step towards achieving peace in the troubled southern Philippines.

She ordered the army to step up their operations in order to wipe out all the country's kidnap gangs:

"Give them no quarter. Annihilate these criminal gangs. I appeal to the people, to our Muslim brothers, to help us end this scourge of kidnapping," she said.

Remaining hostages

Another group, the Muslim separatist Abu Sayyaf, is still holding a nurse and an American missionary couple hostage on the southern island of Basilan, off Mindanao.

Interior Secretary Joey Lina said in an interview with a local TV station that he thought they would be freed in "a matter of days".

The US is holding military exercises in Basilan to train Philippine troops who are searching for the kidnappers.

About 600 US troops are in the region, and could soon be joined by 300 more, a Philippine military official said on Sunday.

The military will recommend that the Philippine Government approve the extra troops and extend the six-month operation by another six months, said Brigadier General Emmanuel Teodosio.