MANILA - The Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Tuesday denied involvement in the brazen abduction of an elderly Irish priest in the troubled south of the country.

The 12,000-strong separatist Muslim group  is also willing to assist the military and police in hunting down the kidnappers of Michael Sinnott, rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu told Agence France-Pressefrom his base in the south.

"We are not involved in this, and we see no reason why our men should be involved in this," Kabalu said, stressing that his group was set to resume peace talks with the government.

The 79-year-old Catholic priest, whose health has been fragile since heart surgery last year, was seized by 6 armed men from his home at the Missionary Society of St Columban compound in Pagadian city on Sunday.

Police and the military said either the MILF or the smaller Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group could be behind the abduction, the latest in a long list of kidnappings targeting foreign missionaries and tourists in the south.

"We don't know who is behind this, but what is important is that we are willing to cooperate and assist the government look for him (Sinnott) for humanitarian reasons," Kabalu insisted.

He noted that, as a confidence-building mechanism, the MILF had in the past helped the government track down wanted criminals on Mindanao island.

MILF commanders on the ground have been told to report any sightings of Sinnott and his abductors and to coordinate quickly with the rebel leadership, which will then relay the information to government negotiators, Kabalu said.

"The abduction appears to have been planned, and carried out surgically," Kabalu said.

The MILF has been waging a rebellion since 1978 for an independent Muslim homeland in the south of this Roman Catholic Southeast Asian nation.

Peace talks broke down last year after large-scale fighting broke out, but both sides have agreed to resume talks soon.

The Abu Sayyaf was set up in the early 1990s, allegedly with Al-Qaeda seed money, to also fight for a Muslim state and has been responsible for many kidnappings in the south, as well as the nation's biggest terrorist attacks.