Kidnapped Italian priest freed

Manila: After over a month in captivity, Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi was freed by his Muslim captors on Thursday evening, a police general said on Friday.

Bossi was freed at 9pm on Thursday (1am, Friday, Dubai time) in Lanao del Norte, said police chief Jaime Caringal. No ransom had been paid to secure Bossi's release, he said.

In an interview with ABS-CBN television, Bossi said he wants to return to his parish in Zamboanga after his captors assured him he would not be seized again.

He said his captors had treated him well, although he was always heavily guarded. He said they fed him rice and dried fish.

Bossie said he once saw an opportunity to escape when his captors were fast asleep, but one of them woke up and foiled his plan.

In Italy, Prime Minister Romano Prodi expressed joy over Bossi's release. "I am moved and happy. Today was his mother's birthday, a very happy coincidence," Prodi said.

Bossi was immediately taken to police camp Cawa Cawa in Zamboanga to undergo a medical check-up and debriefing, Caringal said.