MANILA, Philippines?Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno Tuesday claimed that members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were behind the abduction of Fr. Michael Sinnott, thus slamming the door on the separatist group?s offer to help free the Irish missionary.

?It is clear to us that the kidnappers are either directly connected to or very closely associated with the MILF,? Puno said at a news briefing in Camp Crame national police headquarters.

Asked to elaborate, he said: ?In the process of the case buildup, the identities of the kidnappers started to surface and a great majority of them are actually identified as members of the MILF 113th Base Command.?

Puno said the MILF group that seized the 79-year-old Sinnott in Pagadian City on Oct. 11 was led by one Al Ashree.

The kidnapping was ?compartmentalized,? meaning various individuals took part in the missionary?s abduction and transfer from Pagadian to the forested area where he is now being held by another group from the same MILF unit, Puno said.

Citing information from witnesses as well as ?pieces of evidence,? Puno said Al Alshree?s group was believed to be holding Sinnott somewhere in the tri-boundary of Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur.

He said the Abu Jandal that Sinnott mentioned as the abductors? leader in a video that surfaced last weekend was a mere pseudonym of another person.

?Trust the MILF?

Agence France-Presse quoted MILF vice chair Ghadzali Jaafar as denying Puno?s charges on radio and saying that the group had helped free other hostages in the past and was still willing to help free Sinnott.

?Why can?t the government just trust the MILF for a brief time so we can work for a peaceful solution?? Jaafar said.

He also expressed optimism that the matter would not affect efforts to revive the peace talks between the government and the separatist group.

MILF civil-military affairs chief Eid Kabalu has also repeatedly denied the involvement of its forces in the kidnapping.

But Puno said that with the purported role of the MILF in the abduction, there was no need for the government to entertain the separatists? proposed assistance in rescuing the missionary.

He said he had directed members of the crisis management committee (CMC) headed by Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Aurora Cerilles and the Philippine National Police to refer all communication to and from the MILF leaders to the government peace panel.

?From this point onward, the CMC and the PNP will be cutting off communication with the MILF ... and not allowing a situation where there are 10 people talking to 10 other people. We want to do this in the most efficient way possible,? he said.

Puno also questioned the MILF capability to directly deal with the kidnappers:

?If they have influence over these people, then we don?t understand why they need a company-size group (or about 120 armed fighters) to go in there. They can send one or two people with a cell phone?

?If they need more than that, then it means that they cannot control this MILF group.?

Puno dismissed talk that he clipped the power of the CMC vis-à-vis Sinnott?s case after the video that served as the missionary?s proof of life came out in the media.

In fact, he said, he had commended the team for ?doing everything necessary to work for the eventual safe release of Father Sinnott.?

Word war

In Pagadian City, the search and recovery effort for Sinnott has developed into a word war between the government?s national security officials and the MILF.

The bickering stemmed from Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro?s renewed accusation that the group was behind the missionary?s abduction.

The MILF secretariat chief, Muhammad Ameen, said he had been ?irked by the tongue-lashing? of Teodoro, and that the latter should exercise prudence in his comments and stick to facts.

Addressing Teodoro, the presumptive standard-bearer of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD in the 2010 elections, Ameen said: ?Act like a real ?presidentiable.??

The rebel official?s comments are cited in a post at the MILF website.

Ameen said that even granting Sinnott was kidnapped by so-called ?rogue elements? of the rebel group, ?this will not necessarily make it an act of the MILF.?

?Sinnott cannot be rescued by mere lip service,? he said.

According to the MILF, Sinnott?s abductors are holding him in a jungle lair between Sapad and Sultan Naga Dimaporo towns in Lanao del Norte and Sultan Gumander town in Lanao del Sur.

On Monday, Pagadian Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar said MILF participation would only complicate the rescue mission.

?The kidnapping requires police work. The MILF?s entry into the rescue efforts may further complicate matters,? Cabajar said in a statement, adding:

?We are still trying to determine leads to find out who may have Father Mick in custody. We are also concerned because it was reported he has not received all the medicines he regularly takes.?

?Punish them?

In Malacañang, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s deputy spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said that while the government ?would like to give them the benefit of the doubt,? MILF leaders must impose ?punishment or sanction against those involved [in the kidnapping] to show good faith and that they are very sincere.?

Fajardo noted earlier denials from the group and said it was possible that the MILF leadership was not aware that some of its members were involved.

?We hope that this is an isolated case, so we have to be very careful in handling this,? Fajardo told reporters.

Asked whether the incident could affect the peace talks, she said: ?There might be some respite in the peace talks, but we have to continue [the talks at some stage].?

Peace talks

Peace negotiations with the MILF have been stalled since last year, when two MILF commanders broke a five-year-old ceasefire and launched large-scale attacks across Mindanao in protest of the aborted signing of an agreement expanding the political and economic autonomy of the Bangsamoro people.

But the talks are scheduled to resume this year, after both sides agreed to allow the participation of international peace brokers. With reports from Ryan D. Rosauro and Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao; Agence France-Presse