2010-07-07 08:30

MANILA - Philippine police commandos rescued a Chinese national held captive for about 18 months by a group of Islamist militants on a remote southern island, the head of national police said on Tuesday.

Wu Xili, also known as Peter Go, 30, was unharmed after a 10-minute firefight between security forces and dozens of Abu Sayyaf militants guarding him late on Monday on the island of Jolo, Police Director-General Jesus Verzosa said.

Wu was the last remaining foreign captive held by Abu Sayyaf, a small Muslim rebel group with links to al-Qaida and the Indonesia group Jemaah Islamiah with a record of kidnapping, extortion and beheading in the southern Philippines.

"Mr Wu is still in daze, but is in high spirits," Verzosa said. "He will be airlifted to Manila after a medical checkup."

Verzosa said the militants fled, leaving behind their captive and a cache of weapons, including a light machinegun and rocket-propelled grenades. No one was hurt in the exchange.

A simmering Muslim insurgency in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country is a fundamental security problem facing the new government of President Benigno Aquino.

The Philippines is also facing one of the world's longest-running leftist insurgencies, which has killed 40,000 people and stunted growth in resource-rich areas outside Manila.

Police said Wu, who had overstayed his visitor's visa, was seized at gunpoint at a shop in Jolo town in December 2008 by a group of Abu Sayyaf militants. They had initially demanded a ransom of 20 million pesos ($430,000) for his release.

Verzosa said the militants moved Wu from one place to another to avoid detection, but security around him loosened up after the death of Albader Parad, leader of the Abu Sayyaf group holding him in the town of Luuk.

Reuters