Zamboanga City, Philippines - An influential Muslim leader on Wednesday joined efforts to secure the release of three International Committee of the Red Cross staff members who were seized by Islamist militants in the southern Philippines.

The Philippine National Red Cross chairman Senator Richard Gordon had approached Muslim leader Nur Misuari to help in securing the release of the hostages abducted last week by Abu Sayyaf rebels on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.

Misuari, leader of the Moro National Liberation Front, which signed a peace agreement with the government in 1996, has already created a team to establish communication with the kidnappers, according to his spiritual adviser Zain Jali.

Red Cross staff members Andreas Notter of Switzerland, Eugenio Vagni of Italy and Mary Jean Lacaba of the Philippines had just visited the provincial jail in Jolo when gunmen blocked their vehicle and seized them on January 15.

Military and police sources said the Abu Sayyaf rebels had moved their hostages to the jungles of Talipao town from the nearby town of Indanan.

About 1,500 troops have been dispatched to track down the guerrillas and rescue the hostages.

Police said initial investigations showed that the three Red Cross staff members were seized by gunmen led by a sacked jail guard who then turned them over to Abu Sayyaf rebels.

According to military intelligence sources, the kidnappers were led by commanders Albader Parad and Akmad Jumdail, who were planning to demand 5 million dollars in ransom for the safe release of the hostages.

The al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebel group has been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines.

It is also notorious for high-profile kidnapping-for-ransom cases, including the abduction of 21 European tourists and Asian workers from a Malaysian resort island in 2000. The hostages were ransomed for millions of dollars before they were freed months later. (dpa)