Zamboanga City, Philippines - Three abducted staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were visited on Wednesday by a local official on the southern Philippine island where they were being held by Muslim militants.

Vice Governor Lady Anne Sahidula of Sulu province, which covers Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, said she met with Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba and their kidnappers.

"The three are okay, they are treated well," she said after the visit to the undisclosed hideout of the kidnappers in the jungles of Jolo. "We embraced each other and emotions ran high."

A photograph provided by Sahidula to a local television network showed Notter, Vagni and Lacaba with her. The three hostages looked tired, but appeared unharmed and were wearing clean clothes.

"We miss our families," Sahidula quoted the three as telling her.

Sahidula said "there were ongoing talks" for the release of the hostages, but stressed that she was not part of the negotiations and merely visited the ICRC staff to get assurance that the hostages were doing well.

She said that during her visit, the kidnappers told her that "they have no intention to ask for ransom but wanted livelihood assistance and peace." She did not identify the kidnappers.

The three ICRC staff were abducted on January 15 after visiting the Sulu provincial jail on Jolo. They are believed to be held by a group of Abu Sayyaf rebels led by Abu Sayyaf commanders Albader Parad and Akmad Jumdail.

Parad is a distant relative of Sahidula.

Military sources earlier said the kidnappers were planning to seek 5 million dollars in ransom and unknown political demands for the safe release of the hostages.

Authorities have declined to confirm the reports. The ICRC said it has not received a ransom demand.

The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks 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 island. 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 20 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)