ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) - Gunmen seized a Malaysian barge off Borneo island and took it across the border to the Philippines, the military said here today as Filipino Muslim rebels tried to draw Kuala Lumpur into a hostage crisis.

It was not known if any of the barge crew were taken during the hijacking off the Sabah port of Sandakan on Wednesday afternoon.

The vessel was found abandoned in the Turtle Islands group just north of the sea border, and the pirates were believed to be hiding on nearby Baguan Island, said Colonel Danilo Servando of the southern Philippines military command, based here.

A navy patrol craft was steaming toward the Turtle Islands from Zamboanga after regional military chief Lieutenant General Gregorio Camiling ordered the navy to "check and take appropriate action", Servando said.

Hijacking treated as piracy

Servando said the hijacking was being treated as piracy, and "is not in any way connected with the Abu Sayyaf."

In Manila, military spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan said: "We are verifying this, the coastguard in particular. This would be an incident of piracy and could not be ascribed to the Abu Sayyaf group at this time."

Malaysian reports said four fishing boats were hijacked and taken to Philippine waters. Three were released after a ransom was paid.

The hijacking occurred amid a hostage crisis involving the Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrilla group, which is holding 29 hostages including three Americans on the southern island of Basilan.

The kidnappers have been demanding the Philippine government allow Malaysian negotiators to mediate in the hostage crisis.

The rebels yesterday claimed that they had beheaded an American because Manila was barring the entry of the Malaysian go-betweens. No proof has been given the man was killed.

Reluctant to get involved

The Malaysians had said they were reluctant to get involved because there were no Malaysian hostages.

Servando said the authorities did not know the contents of the vessel nor if any crewmen, passengers or cargo had been taken off it.

He said the area was a "frequent place for piracy" and the Abu Sayyaf had not been active there in recent months.

However, intelligence sources here said Abu Sayyaf gunmen abducted a Malaysian and two Hong Kong fishery workers in the area in 1998.

The captives were freed unharmed several months later.

Nine of the hostages now being held by the Abu Sayyaf hostages were snatched from a western Philippines tourist resort, and include American Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, as well as Californian Guillermo Sobero whom the rebels claimed to have beheaded.

The Today newspaper said in an editorial that the rebels were "trying to drag in Malaysia as a possible shield against what the bandits fear the most - American intervention in the hostage crisis."

"Malaysia has so far held back and displayed an attitude aloof and almost contemptuous of what's going on," which is "fine" for the governments concerned, it added.