MANILA - Troops have sealed off an area in Mindanao and were poised to launch a rescue mission for kidnapped Irish priest, Father Michael Sinnott, a military spokesman said Saturday.

"We have a general area where we believe Father Sinnott was brought by his kidnappers. We have cordoned off that general area. We have checkpoints in possible routes of withdrawal and we have naval interdiction patrols to prevent them from escaping through high seas," Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. told radio dzMM.

Brawner, meanwhile, declined to pinpoint the exact location so as not to bungle the pending rescue operation.

He said the military was just waiting for a go signal from the local crisis management committee before carrying out the rescue mission.

"We have eye witnesses. We also have information from our signal intelligence and there's a big possibility that they are in the general area," he added.

Earlier reports said the priest could have been brought to Lanao del Sur or Lanao del Norte. There were also reports of the priest's sightings in the Lanao provinces.

Brawner said the military suspects that a rogue group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is keeping the kidnapped priest.

He said the priest was snatched by a group of local pirates in Zamboanga, and eventually turned over to the rogue MILF group.

Malacañang had turned down the MILF's offer to send troops that would help government troopers launch rescue operation for the priest.

Brawner said the offer was turned down to avoid a "misencounter" between the two groups. He said sending MILF troops to the "general area" will complicate the government's operations.

He said that instead of bringing their own troops, the MILF should just help the local crisis management committee negotiate with the kidnappers.