Kidnappers free trader in the southern Philippines

Zamboanga: Philippine administrators said that suspected Muslim militants have freed a trader in the southern Philippines who had been kidnapped two months ago.

Basilan provincial Vice Governor Al Rasheed Sakalahul said on Sunday that Vicente Barrios was abandoned by his kidnappers in a remote village in Sumisip town on Basilan island Saturday, two months after they abducted him while inspecting family-owned fish cages off nearby Zamboanga city.

Regional military chief Lt. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said that Barrios is among several victims who authorities believed were abducted by common outlaws then passed on to Al Qaida-linked groups like the Abu Sayyaf.