MILITARY troops cordoned the area where kidnappers are believed to be holding captive an ailing Irish priest they snatched in Pagadian City, a military official said Wednesday.

Major General Benjamin Mohammad Dolorfino, chief of Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom), said the cordon was made to contain the kidnappers' movement to prevent the transfer of Fr. Michael Sinnott to another place.

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Sinnott, 79, a member of the Mission Society of Saint Columban (MSSC), was seized by six gunmen last October 11 from the MSSC compound in Gatas District, Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur.

The kidnappers are asking a ransom of $2 million in exchange for Sinnott's release.

Dolorfino said they already identified the kidnappers but refused to reveal who they are, including the whereabouts, so as not to jeopardize the "containment effort" of the troops.

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno said Tuesday that a group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels is involved in the kidnapping of Sinnott.

Puno identified the leader of Sinnott's kidnappers as Aloy Al Asree, the commander of the MILF's 113rd Based Command which operates in Western Mindanao area, including the Lanao provinces.

Puno said a case is being readied to be filed against those involved in the kidnapping of Sinnott.

Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF's Committee on Information, said Puno should refrain from making statement that puts the safety of Sinnott more in harm's way.

Musa, in a statement posted Wednesday at the MILF website, described Puno's statement as an attempt to sabotage the Moro rebel front's efforts to help rescue Sinnott and put into bad light the reputation of the very unit tasked by the MILF central leadership to undertake the rescue mission.

Musa said he suspects Puno has other motives, like sabotaging the peace process.

He said Asree is the head of the MILF 113rd Base Command, which has jurisdiction over most of Zamboanga Peninsula and whose men are already on the ground to determine the whereabouts of the abducted priest and to jump off if necessary, taking utmost consideration of his safety.