At least 58 people were killed Thursday when Philippine troops raked Muslim rebel positions with helicopter gunfire and artillery during a day of intense fighting on the southern island of Jolo. Twenty-six of the dead were Philippine soldiers.

The fighting is the heaviest in the volatile Philippine south for almost three years, but the military said it suspended operations at daybreak on Friday following a request from the provincial governor.

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), a Muslim rebel group that signed a peace deal with the government in 1996, said its members were involved and that it had asked the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to help stop the fighting.

"We informed the OIC of the current situation through e-mails and a fax direct to Jeddah," said Hatimil Hassan, the MNLF deputy head and an elected member of the regional legislative assembly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Fighting has been restricted to a small part of the island but there were dangers that it could spill over to nearby areas and other rebel groups could take advantage of the situation, Hassan told reporters.

The military said the rebels were from the Abu Sayyaf, which is linked to al-Qaida, but the less radical MNLF said its cadres were involved. The group has no known links to al-Qaida or regional Islamic militant network Jemaah Islamiah.

The fighting started when gunmen ambushed a group of soldiers on their way to a market in Maimbung town to buy food, local military commander Major-General Ruben Rafael said. Ten soldiers were killed and one was wounded.

The islands of the southern Philippines, especially Jolo and nearby Basilan, are hotbeds of extremism. They are also home to pirate gangs that prey on shipping in the South China Sea.

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2007)