ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Ma. 22, 2012) – Suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen freed a healh worker they kidnapped in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, police and military said Thursday.
It said Rosalyn Kiram, 54, was freed near the village of Maligay in Patikul town late Wednesday afternoon, but it was unknown whether ransom was paid or how much, in exchange for her release.
Kiram was released to Darayan village chieftan Nurmina Abubakar and handed to Patikul Mayor Khabir Hayudini and Sulu police chief Antonio Freyra.
“Kiram was freed by the kidnappers in Patikul thru the intercession of local officials,” Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Gunmen seized 6 health workers on Monday and freed all, but Kiram, in Patikul town, a known lair of the Abu Sayyaf which has been tied by authorities to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.
A separate military report tagged Abu Sayyaf leader Ninok Sapari as behind the abduction. The motive of the kidnapping was unknown. (Mindanao Examiner)
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