A senior aide to President Gloria Arroyo offered to pay a token ransom to win the freedom of a kidnapped Italian priest but his captors rejected it, the Philippine military said Wednesday.
Roman Catholic priest Giuseppe Pierantoni, 44, was abducted on Mindanao island on October 17 by the "Pentagon" gang of Muslim former separatist guerrillas.
A military official said that two weeks ago, the Arroyo aide ordered a subordinate "to offer to pay for the board and lodging, but they rejected it."
The military official, who asked not to be named, said negotiations were held in Marawi city, but did not say how much was offered.
Paying kidnappers for the "board and lodging" of their victims is a fig leaf used by local officials who do not want to be seen as flouting the Arroyo government's "no-ransom" policy.
Dozens of kidnap gangs operate in Mindanao, the homeland of the mainly Catholic archipelago's 3.6-million-strong Muslim minority and a hotbed of Islamic separatism.
On the small island of Basilan off Mindanao, Abu Sayyaf guerrillas with links to terrorism suspect Osama bin Laden are holding three hostages including an American Christian missionary couple.
The military official also accused Mindanao politicians of hindering the rescue of Pierantoni, alleging they were "fighting over" taking credit for the release of the Bologna native.
One of these politicians had also made a separate offer of 100,000 pesos (1,923 dollars) to the kidnappers to release the hostage to him, but it was likewise rejected, the official said.
As a result of the infighting, the kidnappers "move from place to place. We don't have a fix on the exact location" of the hostage, the official added – Manila (AFP)
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