Italian worker freed in Philippines

Manila (AP) - Al-Qaida-linked militants in the southern Philippines freed an ailing Italian Red Cross worker Sunday from six months of jungle captivity, officials said.

Eugenio Vagni, 63, appeared to be in good health but weak as Abu Sayyaf captors handed him over to a provincial vice governor in a jungle near Maimbung township on southern Jolo Island, officials said.

"He was weak but obviously very happy to have regained his freedom," marine Col. Eugenio Clemen told The Associated Press by telephone from Jolo.

Vagni, who had difficulty walking because of a hernia, embraced military officers at a Jolo military camp saying "thank you" repeatedly, said Clemen, who helped oversee rescue operations for Vagni.

Vagni, who had grown a beard and wore a white shirt and jogging pants, was unable to contact his wife by telephone but managed to contact a brother. He was given coffee and noodles and was examined by doctors at a trauma clinic in the camp before going to sleep, Clemen said.

"I am happy. At least he is safe, and we can return him back to his family," said Sen. Richard Gordon, who heads the Philippine Red Cross.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in an interview with Italian state TV that no ransom had been paid for Vagni's release. There has been speculation that a large ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

Gordon said that Sulu Vice Gov. Lady Ann Sahidulla was asked by the militants to escort Vagni to safety and that she "donated" 50,000 pesos ($1,041) to an intermediary, but he stressed this was not a ransom.

The kidnappers were also pressured by the recent arrests of the two wives of Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad, who held Vagni, Clemen said. It was not immediately clear if the women have been released in exchange for Vagni's freedom.

Philippine Marines spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said Vagni will be flown later Sunday to the southern port city of Zamboanga, where Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and armed forces chief of staff Gen. Victor Ibrado will turn him over to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Arevalo said.

"Skillful negotiations and incessant pressure by relentless operations by members of the security forces won the release of Vagni," Arevalo said.

He said the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf will continue.

Frattini also expressed gratitude that no government attacks were necessary to free the hostage.

The aid worker, who suffers from hypertension and a hernia, was kidnapped along with two Red Cross colleagues after inspecting a Jolo jail water project Jan. 15.

The Swiss and the Filipino hostages had been freed earlier by the militants, but the Abu Sayyaf held on to Vagni for months, entering into on-and-off negotiations for his release while government troops maintained military pressure on the gunmen.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 400 fighters, is on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations because its bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings of hostages have rattled the southern Philippines for decades. The group is suspected of receiving funds and training from al-Qaida.

The group and its allies have turned to kidnappings to make money in recent years, raising concerns among Philippine and U.S. security officials that ransom payments could revive the group, which has been weakened by years of U.S.-backed military offensives.