REUTERS - Islamist militants
in the Philippines on Monday freed two Indonesians who were kidnapped six
months ago, after the rebels came under pressure from the Philippine
army, a
military spokesman said.
The two were among
seven Indonesian crewmen who rebels from the Abu Sayyaf militant group
kidnapped from a tug sailing in waters off the southern Philippines in June,
said Major Filemon Tan, spokesman of the military's Western Mindanao Command.
Tan said the
militants released the two "after being pressured by non-stop
operations", and with the help of members of a rival Muslim group, the
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
The two were
released to an MNLF leader and later handed over to a government official on
Sulu island.
They would be turned
over to Indonesian authorities, the military said.
The MNLF also helped
the Philippine government in securing the release in September of a Norwegian
who the militants kidnapped from a beach resort.
Abu Sayyaf
militants, notorious for kidnappings, beheadings and extortion, operate on
remote Muslim islands in the south of the largely Christian Philippines.
REUTERS
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