Manila - A Philippine Red Cross official warned Thursday against paying ransom to free three kidnapped colleagues amid reports that Muslim militants had demanded 50 million pesos (1.03 million dollars) in exchange for their freedom.

Philippine National Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon said paying ransom for the release of the abducted staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross would only trigger more attacks against humanitarian workers.

Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba were seized January 15 by Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.

"The Red Cross isn't going to pay any ransom whatsoever," Gordon told a local television station. "Once we start paying ransom, we will be fair game for everyone, not only in the Philippines, but in the whole world."

Muslimin Sema - leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim former rebel group, and governor of Cotabato City - said the Abu Sayyaf wanted "money for cigarettes" in exchange for the freedom of the Red Cross personnel.

Sema, who recently led an assembly of former MNLF rebels on Jolo, said the only options to secure the freedom of the three captives was to pay the ransom or to launch a dangerous rescue mission.

"These people have nothing on their minds but money," he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper. "Money is the bottom line."

Sema said the Abu Sayyaf and their allied groups on the southern island have about 500 firearms.

He added that a rescue mission would be difficult since the Abu Sayyaf rebels are masters of the terrain on Jolo and are well-armed.

The Abu Sayyaf group has been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks and high-profile kidnappings in the Philippines.

In 2000, the Abu Sayyaf abducted 21 European tourists and Asian workers from a Malaysian resort island and brought them to Jolo. The hostages were ransomed off for millions of dollars before they were freed months later.

The following year, a separate band of Abu Sayyaf rebels seized 17 Filipino vacationers and three American tourists from a western Philippine resort. Most of the hostages were later rescued or ransomed off, but two of the Americans were killed. (dpa)