A CORE leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has started negotiating for the release of kidnapped Italian priest Fr. Giancarlo Bossi after the MILF established communications with his abductors, the military said on Monday.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, chairman of the government’s panel to the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) with the MILF, said that Mohammad Nasif is now negotiating for the freedom of the Italian priest, which he said may hopefully come soon.

Nasif is a high-ranking member of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces and a member of the MILF contingent to the AHJAG, which is headed by lawyer Abdul Detaya.

Dolofino confirmed that the location of Bossi and his 15 kidnappers has been identified but he refused to reveal where it is. He said that the victim and his abductors are no longer in Zamboanga Sibugay.

Dolorfino, who also heads the Armed Forces National Capital Regional Command, said Bossi is being held in a mountainous and thickly forested area.

The area, he said, has been sealed off by two brigades of the MILF and an Army battalion, thus shutting off possible escape by the kidnappers. The MILF brigades and the Army battalion are maintaining close coordination.

Dolorfino said that Bossi was sighted by the MILF at about 2 p.m. on Sunday while traveling on foot with the kidnappers.

“He is okay but he looks weary,” Dolorfino said, quoting the description of the priest by his MILF informant.

Dolorfino is regularly communicating with his counterpart from the MILF on the Bossi kidnapping. He refused to identify the group that snatched the Italian priest in Payao town, Zamboanga Sibugay two Sundays ago.

There were reports earlier that the kidnapping was done by a lost command of the MILF but the MILF leadership, through the front’s spokesman, Eid Kabalu, had denied it.

Later, the military pointed to the MILF breakaway group of a certain Commander Kiddie. Dolorfino, however, refused to talk about the matter.

He said that based on descriptions given to him, the kidnappers holding Bossi are teenagers or looking  young, prompting some to entertain the idea that the Italian priest could have been passed on to his present captors.

Dolorfino said he expects a breakthrough in the negotiations for Bossi’s freedom within 24 hours.

He also disclosed that the military has planned rescue operations on Sunday night for Bossi, but this was abandoned in consideration of the victim’s safety.

June 18, 2007. The MILF also said Bossi is weak owing to the harsh terrain and the bad weather in the place where he is being kept by his captors.

Akkidin Abdusalam, also known as Commander Kiddie, is the main suspect in Bossi’s kidnapping.

Abdusalam allegedly has been involved in other ransom kidnappings, including that of another Italian missionary, Fr. Giuseppe Pierantoni, who was snatched in October 2001. --With R. M. Maitem and B. Garcia Jr.

A CORE leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has started negotiating for the release of kidnapped Italian priest Fr. Giancarlo Bossi after the MILF established communications with his abductors, the military said on Monday.

ALTHOUGH the government has been exerting a lot of effort in the campaign against terrorism, especially in Mindanao, US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney on Monday said that the terrorist threat is still high in the country.

THREE officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) are set to fly to Maguindanao on Wednesday to check the authenticity of poll documents held by the 22 election officers (EOs) in the province.

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) remains in the dark regarding arrangements with a new antismuggling group established last month, since both agencies are tasked to go after smugglers.

LAWYER Rene Saguisag on Monday branded “midnight committee report” the findings submitted by the Senate Committee on Government Corporations detailing alleged anomalies at the sequestered Philippine Overseas Telecommunications Corp. (POTC) and the Philippine Communications Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat).