ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Three Muslim extremists believed to have kidnapped two Malaysians and an Indonesian were killed in the southern Philippines, military officials said Saturday.

However the three hostages were not with the slain men and their location remains unknown, said Captain Feliciano Angue, head of an anti-terror force.

Ayub Bakil, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim group and two of his aides were killed after soldiers stormed their hideout in Languyan town in the islands of Tawi-tawi late Friday.

The hostages, Indonesian tugboat skipper Walter Sampel, 53, Malaysians Toh Chiu Tiong, 48, and Wong Siu Ung, 52, are perhaps still being held near Languyan, the officials said.

The three were kidnapped from their boat off Tawi-Tawi on April 11 while enroute to Solomon islands to deliver a shipment of pebbles.

Hostages poor

Tawi-Tawi's incoming governor Sadikul Sahali said one of his sources confirmed the captives were being held in an island in his province after a Malaysian emissary sought his help in the case.

Sahali said the kidnappers initially demanded a 45 million-peso (US$799,300) ransom but it was bargained down to 10 million pesos.

He said the hostages were poor.

The Abu Sayyaf are a Muslim group linked by both Washington and Manila to the al-Qaeda network of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.

The guerrillas are known to kidnap Christians and foreigners and hold them for ransom.

In May, one Filipino and three Indonesian hostages seized from a Malaysian resort last year were released by the Abu Sayyaf reportedly after ransom was paid.

The Abu Sayyaf also kidnapped 21 people, mostly Western tourists and Malaysian and Filipino workers, from Sipadan resort in Sabah in April 2000. Most of the hostages were released after ransom was paid. - AFP