MANILA, Oct. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- The United Nations (UN) office in New York is leading the efforts for the release of a kidnapped Filipino diplomat and two others of his fellow UN workers in the Afghan capital city Kabul, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.

    The task of Angelito Nayan, a Filipino diplomat who was deployed to Afghanistan to oversee the recent elections there, is under the auspices of the United Nations, so the UN will be the lead agency to negotiate for the release of the three hostages, said Foreign Affairs spokesman Gilbert Asuque at a press briefing.

    "This is a UN coordinated effort. We will rely on UN for statements," Asuque said, adding that the Philippine mission in New York is closely coordinating with the UN for development of the case and the UN is coordinating with the Afghan interim government in Kabul and the DFA in Manila.

    Meanwhile, Asuque said the family of Nayan met with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo Friday to express their appreciation for the information provided by the DFA and the assistance given by the UN.

    UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed "deep regret and dismay" for the abduction, according to his spokesman Fred Eckhard.

    The 34-year-old Nayan was taken hostage by an armed group in Kabul on Thursday with his two female UN colleagues, British-Irish Annetta Flanagan and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo, based on reports coming in from Afghanistan.

    A breakaway group of Taliban known as the Jaish-ul-Muslemeen orArmy of Muslims has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and said the hostages have been moved out of Kabul and they will release demands for the kidnapping soon, the local ABS-CBN news channel reported Friday.

    On Thursday, the DFA strongly condemned such acts as "pointless hindrances to the rebuilding of the Afghan nation, which has just successfully completed its first democratic election."

    The DFA said it has re-activated its Crisis Management Team, which will be coordinating Philippine government actions with the Philippine Embassy in Pakistan and with UN authorities. Enditem