Zamboanga: Philippine police on Monday announced they had killed a bandit leader whose group may have been involved in the abduction of an elderly Japanese man in the country's troubled south.
Jun Akilan of the Pingli-Akilan gang was killed on Sunday on an island off the port city of Zamboanga, nearly 200 kilometres northeast of where Toshio Ito was allegedly seized by gunmen two days before.
"Government security forces, in hot pursuit of the abductors of a Japanese national, clashed with a notorious kidnapping group, killing a suspected bandit leader," a statement from the national police said." Police authorities are also investigating the possible involvement of the Pingli-Akilan group in the kidnapping (of Ito)."
Police earlier identified the abducted Japanese man as Amer Katayama Mamaito, the name under which he was known locally, but documents found at his home gave his real name as Toshio Ito, said Regional Military Chief Lieutenant General Benjamin Dolorfino.
Ito was taken by 10 men at gunpoint from Pangutaran, one of many small islands that make up the mostly Muslim-populated Sulu archipelago, where he had lived since 2004, Dolorfino said.
He added that based on documents found at his home, Ito was originally from Hiroshima and was born in 1947.
It was not clear when he entered the Philippines or why he was living in a volatile and remote part of the country, where foreigners are advised not to travel.
Dolorfino said police were in fact investigating reports that Ito may have been a treasure hunter who ran a small pharmacy on Pangutaran.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said its embassy in Manila had been investigating news reports about the case, but it had received no solid information yet.
Akilan's group is one of many small armed gangs operating in the lawless southern islands of Sulu that engage in kidnappings for ransom.
However, police did not specify on Monday what other kidnappings Akilan's group had been involved in.
The most notorious of the groups is the Al Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, which is on the US government's list of foreign terrorist organisations.
