WORLD BRIEFING / THE PHILIPPINES
A Red Cross worker freed by Al Qaeda-linked militants after 10 weeks of captivity in a southern Philippine jungle told a government official that the remaining Swiss and Italian hostages were alive, but tired and in danger.
The unexpected release of Mary Jean Lacaba and news that her colleagues had not been killed came after the Abu Sayyaf militants threatened to behead one of the hostages Tuesday because Philippine forces refused to withdraw from the surrounding area.
Abu Sayyaf gunmen handed over the 37-year-old Filipina in the jungles near Indanan township on Jolo island without any ransom payment, government negotiator Lady Anne Sahidulla said.
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