ZAMBOANGA CITY?Islamic militants kidnapped a three-member team from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sulu Thursday, the military said.

Swiss national Andreas Notter, Eugenio Vagni of Italy, and Filipino Jean Lacaba were on a relief and medical mission when they were kidnapped by gunmen who stopped their marked vehicle near the provincial jail in Jolo, regional military spokesman Lt. Steffani Cacho said.

The three, who are based in Zamboanga, were said to have been carrying out a water and sanitation project to improve the condition of detainees.

Notter, 38, is the head of the Red Cross in Zamboanga City. Vagni, 62, is the Davao-based delegate of the Red Cross? Water Habitat Project. Lacaba is a Davao-based engineer.

President Arroyo ordered an ?all-out pursuit? against the kidnappers, who were last reported by the military to be fleeing toward the jungles near the town of Patikul.

Mrs. Arroyo said the military should ?make sure the victims are rescued unharmed as their safety is always [of] utmost concern.?

?In light of this recent incident, the authorities are reiterating their call on all elements, whether locals or foreigners, who visit these areas to coordinate with government ground forces and civilian authorities,? added Jesus Dureza, a Palace spokesman.

Red Cross spokesman Roland Bigler in Manila said the agency would not suspend its humanitarian work in other parts of the south, where hundreds of thousands have been displaced by fighting between government troops and Muslim militants.

?There will be no work stoppage. Our humanitarian work on the ground will continue,? Bigler said.

He said the Red Cross had not heard from the captives, and no group had called to claim responsibility for the crime or to relay ransom demands.

Cacho said the group arrived in Sulu Tuesday and were offered armed security escorts by the Army.

?They were duly advised about the security situation but, being a neutral organization, had denied armed escorts,? Cacho said.

She said the Army was trying to track the trio down and had already recovered their vehicle.

Philippine Red Cross chief Senator Richard Gordon said the three victims had just paid a visit to inmates in Patikul town when they were abducted by eight armed men who used the Red Cross van to flee the area.

Unconfirmed reports said the captors were led by a certain Albader Parad, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf, a gang of Islamic bandits blamed for the worst terrorist attacks.

The Abu Sayyaf is on the US government?s list of foreign terrorist organizations. It is blamed for the deaths of two Americans kidnapped from a beach resort in 2001.

In 2000, the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped nearly two dozen Malaysian, French, German and Finnish tourists and resort staff in a daring raid across the border into the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan.

The hostages were freed one by one over several months in exchange for millions of dollars in ransom.

From about 1,500 fighters in the 1990s, the group?s ranks have fallen to the low hundreds after US-assisted ground operations led to the successes on the field and the killing of key leaders.

But while low in numbers, the group remains capable of launching surprise attacks, and over the past two years has been working increasingly closely with foreign jihadis, including Jemaah Islamiyah, intelligence officials say. AFP, with Romie A. Evangelista and Jaime Pilapil