ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / June 11, 2013) – Kidnappers have freed a Filipino trader after being held for more than a year in the southern Philippine province of Sulu.
Carlos Tiam, who was kidnapped in April last year, had been released by suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels in exchange for a still undetermined amount of ransom.
The 62-year old Tiam was working with the Air Transportation Office when kidnapped in Jolo town, where his family also owns a small gas station and a grocery store.
Authorities have previously linked a rebel commander, Sinok Sampa, to the kidnapping of Tiam.
Abu Sayyaf rebels in Sulu are still holding a Japanese treasure hunter Toshio Ito, two European wildlife photographers Ewold Horn and Lorenzo Vinciguerra, and two Malaysians Wei Tung and Jie Tung, including a Jordanian television producer Baker Atyani. (Mindanao Examiner)
20