Abu Sayyaf frees kidnapped Zambo Norte town mayor

From the Business Mirror (Nov 6): Abu Sayyaf frees kidnapped Zambo Norte town mayor

Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits freed a Zamboanga del Norte town mayor kidnapped more than seven months ago, a top police official disclosed on Tuesday. The release of the town mayor has brought down to one the number of kidnapped victims from this region who remain in captivity. Released after seven months and three days in captivity was Jeffrey Lim, the mayor of the municipality of Salug, Zamboanga del Norte province. Western Mindanao police director Chief Supt. Napoleon Estilles said Lim was freed around 10 p.m. on Monday, in an undisclosed place here in Zamboanga City. Estilles said Lim was picked up by a still unidentified mediator who accompanied the mayor go home to Salug town. Lim, 36, was reunited with his family since they reached home around 3 a.m. on Tuesday, according to Estilles. Meanwhile, Estilles denied any knowledge on the reported payment of a P1.1-million ransom in exchange for Lim’s release, stressing they strictly comply with the no-ransom policy of the government. Around 10 gunmen clad in camouflage pants and shirts with “pulis” markings seized Lim around 7 p.m. on April 2 while he was eating dinner with friends near the bus terminal of Salug town. Lim was forced to board a yellow mini-van which was recovered several minutes after his disappearance around 3.5 kilometers away from the bus terminal. Later, military and police reports said the kidnappers brought the victim to Basilan, the traditional lair of the notorious Abu Sayyaf group. Still in the hands of the kidnappers, also suspected to be Abu Sayyaf bandits, is former Australian soldier Richard Warren Rodwell, 53. Rodwell was seized by gunmen from his residence in barangay Pangi, Ipil, the capital town of Zamboanga Sibugay province on Dec. 5 last year.

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/news/regions/1983-abu-sayyaf-frees-kidnapped-zambo-norte-town-mayor