3 Women, Girl Reported Freed in Philippines
Two Americans and two Australians kidnaped for ransom by Muslim gunmen in the southern Philippines eight days ago were freed unharmed Wednesday, a spokesman for a Muslim rebel group said.
The three women and a 6-year-old girl were released on the remote southern island of Jolo, 590 miles south of Manila, according to Sharif Zain Jali, spokesman for the Moro National Liberation Front.
Spokesmen for the Australian and U.S. embassies in Manila said they were checking the report but had not been able to confirm it.
The four were reportedly freed a week after police in Manila rescued kidnaped California businessman Michael L. Barnes after he was held for 61 days by an urban guerrilla group called Red Scorpion.
Jali said by telephone from the southern city of Zamboanga that the four captives are unharmed and no ransom was paid.
Lynette Cook, wife of an Australian missionary, her daughter, Cheree, and American missionary schoolteachers Carol Allen from Kittaning, Pa., and Tracy Rectanus from Richmond, Va., were seized by gunmen March 17 while sightseeing in Jolo.
Cook’s 3-year-old daughter was also initially abducted but was released when she started crying and asking for milk.
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