Manila - Security forces were pursuing kidnappers of an Irish Catholic priest who was recently released in the southern Philippines, an army brigade commander said Tuesday.

Father Michael Sinnott, a 79-year-old Columban missionary, was freed last week after one month in captivity.

Colonel Benito De Leon said the manhunt began Monday in the Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte provinces, 810 kilometres south of Manila, where the suspects were believed to be hiding.

On Friday, police filed kidnapping complaints against Sinnott's abductors, believed to be rogue members of the Muslim secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"I have committed one battalion to support the police in the manhunt operations," De Leon said. "Whatever the police will do, we will support."

The MILF secured the release of Sinnott on November 12, in time for the two-day visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But the rebels refused to help the government identify to the kidnappers of Sinnott, who was forcibly seized by gunmen inside the Columban Mission House in Pagadian City on October 11.

Sinnott's release was expected to provide new impetus for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the MILF, which were stalled in August last year due to the failure to complete a key territory agreement.

During her visit, Clinton urged the MILF and the government to finalize a peace agreement before the end of the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in June.

The MILF is the largest Muslim rebel group fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines. It entered into peace talks with the government in 1997. (dpa)