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Kidnapped midwife escapes captors in southern Philippines

Other News Materials 8 February 2009 11:03 (UTC +04:00)

An abducted midwife escaped from his kidnappers after 10 days in captivity in a southern Philippine province, a military spokeswoman said Sunday, dpa reported.

Eleazar Gumera, 45, was kidnapped on January 28 in Lamitan town in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila, after helping deliver a baby in a village.

Lieutenant Esteffani Cacho, a regional military spokeswoman, said Gumera escaped on Saturday evening.

"He slipped away from his captors by pretending to answer the call of nature and (he) ran away when he had the chance," she said. "He walked for several hours and swam in the seas."

A passing fishing boat picked up Gumera and brought him to the nearby village of Bato.

Village officials turned Gumera over to Lamitan Mayor Roderick Furigay on Sunday, Cacho said.

While no group has claimed responsibility for Gumera's kidnapping, authorities suspected that al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels were behind it.

The rebels are still holding captive three government teachers in Basilan. A 9-year-old boy has also been seized by unidentified kidnappers in Basilan on February 1.

In the nearby island of Jolo, Abu Sayyaf rebels are holding captive three staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who were abducted on January 15.

The hostages - Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba - have appealed to Philippine authorities and the ICRC to hold negotiations for the freedom.

Their captors have demanded that the military pull out first before negotiations are held. The armed forces rejected the condition, and reiterated they were prepared to rescue the hostages.

The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for a number of deadly terrorist attacks in the Philippines as well as high-profile kidnappings involving foreign hostages.

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