(Recasts with fighting erupting on Jolo) MANILA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Kidnappers holding three workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on a remote southern island opened fire on Philippine soldiers closing in on their position on Monday, an army spokesman said. Five soldiers were wounded in the initial burst of gunfire, Lieutenant-Colonel Ernesto Torres told reporters in Manila, adding the troops were forced to fight back and the gunbattle was still going on. "The kidnappers fired the first shot at the government troops in an attempt to extricate themselves from the military cordon," Torres said, adding soldiers were in place near Indanan town on the island of Jolo to pressure the kidnappers to free their captives. "There was no sighting of the three Red Cross workers. The kidnappers might be preparing to move their captives to another place but our troops have blocked all exit routes." The three ICRC workers -- Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba -- were abducted on Jan. 15 a few hundred metres from a prison on Jolo where they had inspected a water and sanitation project. Kidnappers with ties to the regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah (JI) have demanded negotiations with the vice president and three ambassadors, but Manila rejected it as too risky and has demanded the unconditional release of the three victims. CORDONED OFF KIDNAPPERS Earlier in the day, Major-General Juancho Sabban, Marine commander on Jolo, said the military would not use force to free the hostages but had cordoned off the kidnappers' position. "Our boys are already at shouting distance from the gunmen holding the Red Cross workers," Sabban told reporters, saying the safety of the captives remained the military's utmost consideration in every course of action. On nearby Basilan island, soldiers killed two men believed to be members of a kidnap gang holding three teachers, a navy commander said. A total of 10 people, including a nine-year old boy and the three Red Cross workers, have been kidnapped by gangs or Muslim rebel groups on the restive Sulu and Basilan islands in the southern Mindanao region. One captive, a 45-year-old nurse, swam to freedom over the weekend after he slipped away from his guards on Basilan. Marines were on patrol in the interior of Basilan province after the weekend escape of the nurse when they chanced upon a group of Muslim gunmen believed to be holding the teachers, said Commodore Alexander Pama, a navy commander in the south. "Our troops killed two of the kidnappers and recovered some rifles and grenades," Pama told reporters, adding more soldiers were sent to pursue the fleeing gang members. Navy gunboats were also sent to prevent them from escaping to nearby islands. There was no sighting of the captives, Pama said. Rebels and militants use the ransom money from kidnappings to support their recruitment and military operations. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Bill Tarrant)
Tear gas canisters are fired as VIP cars try to pass through a protest on a road going to the palace where the swearing-in ceremony for the new Perak state chief ...
