Richard Gordon, who heads the Philippine Red Cross, said that the rebel commander, Albader Parad, had told him that the hostages were safe after two days of fierce clashes between the Filipino marines and the Abu Sayyaf fighters. However, one hostage would be killed if more fighting breaks out, Mr Gordon quoted Parad as saying.

The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement late Wednesday saying that it was extremely worried about the threat and called on the rebels not to harm the hostages.

Gordon asked the military to investigate the marines who fired at the gunmen on Monday and renewed his appeal to the military to avoid doing anything that could endanger the hostages, AP said.