Monday, February 08, 2010

Kidnapped Yemeni man freed in the Southern Philippines

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 8, 2010) – Kidnappers freed A Yemeni national after a week in captivity in the southern Philippines, police said Monday.

Police said Najid Al Udaini, a member of World Assembly of Muslim Youth, was released in the town of Talakag in Bukidnon province after a series of government negotiations. Udaini was kidnapped in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur province on January 29.

“There was a negotiation and the Yemeni national was released unharmed,” said Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, of the regional police force.
Lanao is one of five provinces under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Macapantar said the foreigner is undergoing police debriefing. “He is okay, but it was really too bad that the Yemeni being a Muslim was kidnapped in Mindanao. He’s a good man and active in humanitarian projects,” he said.

Udaini’s group has built mosques and schools in Muslim communities in Mindanao.

Macapantar did not say whether ransom was paid or not. He said police is still investigating the motive and the group behind the kidnapping.

He said the Yemeni man was released at around 11:30 p.m. to the group of Lanao del Sur Representative Faisah Dumarpa and her husband, Salic Dumarpa and Amerodin Sarangani, who are both running for a congressional seat and vice gubernatorial position in the province in the May elections.

No group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. (Merlyn Manos and Mark Navales contributed to this report)

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