Manila: Toshio Ito, the man kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Sulu in the southern Philippines, appears to have been a member of a separatist Muslim group, according to a local newspaper.
An identification card found in his home in Pangutaran stated that he was a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Western Mindanao Command Head Benjamin Mohammad Dolorfino told Sun.Star.
Ito was a doctor for MILF, a group that has been engaged in peace talks with the Philippine government since 1997, said Dolorfino.
The man bore the name "Ito" in his expired passport, which also stated that he was born in Hiroshima, Japan, on June 18, 1947.
"But he has other identification cards bearing the name of 'Katayama Mamaito'," said Dolorfino, adding that the man also went under the name of 'Katayama Mamaito' in his driver's licence.
Earlier, authorities had identified him as "Amir Katayama Mamaito" because he had allegedly become a Muslim.
Six years ago he resided in Pangutaran, where he established a clinic selling cheap medicine and residents of Pangutaran, one of Sulu's 16 municipalities, knew him simply as "Doctor Amir".
The man's real identity is still being established, said Dolorfino, adding that a rescue operation for the Japanese national is ongoing in Sulu.
The MILF has been waging an armed struggle for the establishment of an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines since 1978.
