MANILA - A STATE of emergency declared in a southern Philippine province during a hostage crisis will continue indefinitely to support a new offensive to finish off al-Qaeda-linked militants, a senior official said on Monday.

Provincial Gov. Abdusakur Tan placed all of Sulu, including the main Jolo Island, under emergency rule in March when Abu Sayyaf militants threatened to behead three kidnapped Red Cross aid workers. That empowered the governor to order rapid checkpoints, searches, arrests of suspected militants and impose curfews.

The militants have since released the hostages from Switzerland, Italy and the Philippines. The last hostage, Italian Eugenio Vagni, walked free July 12 after six months of jungle captivity, ending one of the country's worst hostage crises in recent years.

Mr Tan, however, said he needed emergency powers to carry out a new offensive, which the military predicted will lead to the Abu Sayyaf's demise by year's end.

'The emergency has not ended with the release of the hostages,' Mr Tan told The Associated Press.

Mr Tan said he will meet military and police commanders to plan the offensive but refused to say when or where the assaults will begin.

Key targets include four Abu Sayyaf commanders behind the Red Cross kidnappings.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 400 gunmen on Jolo and nearby Basilan island and the Zamboanga peninsula, is on a US list of terrorist organisations because of bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings of hostages. The group is suspected of having received funds and training from al-Qaeda.

Thousands of Philippine marines, army troops and police commandos have already been deployed to Jolo, a predominantly Muslim island 590 miles (950 kilometers) south of Manila.

Over the weekend, 600 more troops were deployed to Basilan and Jolo, and 200 more police special action forces will be sent to Basilan within weeks, regional military commander Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said. -- AP