President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo termed the Abu Sayyaf a mere group of bandits and hostage takers, and not ideologically bound to become a cell of Al Qaida, which is headed by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.

In an interview with the New York Times, Arroyo said: "The remnants of the group are really just kidnap-for-ransom bandits and not ideologically based and I would not call them a cell (of the Al Qaida) anymore."

Arroyo acknowledged that Abu Sayyaf founder, Abdurajak Janjalani, was ideological and was Al Qaida's contact, but he was killed three years ago in a military encounter.

The Abu Sayyaf is quite different from the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, explained Arroyo, because the MILF has refused to follow Bin Laden's recent call for a jihad against the U.S.

"The MILF has distanced itself publicly from the Abu Sayyaf and other lost commands," she said, adding the government is "doing very successful peace talks with the MILF".

On what her government can do for the Abu Sayyaf hostages, Arroyo said: "We will do our best to rescue them, but we cannot be blackmailed into stopping the offensive (against the Abu Sayyaf) especially now that we're achieving success. Terrorism is an evil that must be fought and it is in our national interest because we have our homegrown terrorism and know how evil terrorism is."

She said it was a moral choice when she supported the U.S. led coalition against Bin Laden and his Al Qaida network, after the September 11 attacks.

The U.S. reported earlier that Bin Laden's Al Qaida network operated in southern Philippines through the Abu Sayyaf Group. U.S. experts have recently been training the military and the police in anti-terrorism.