Gunmen free 18 captives in RP

Gunmen free 18 captives in RP

ILIGAN, Philippines (Reuters): A group of sacked security
guards abducted 18 minibus passengers in the southern Philippines
but freed them after negotiators promised help over unpaid wages,
the military said on Thursday.

The captives -- including 11 students and seven staffers of
Mindanao State University (MSU) -- were kidnapped on Wednesday
but were released 20 hours later to a government negotiating
panel, a military report said.

It said the kidnappers were nine former MSU guards who had
been dismissed from their jobs and were demanding payment of back
wages totaling 250,000 pesos ($6,200).

"The negotiators told them they would help facilitate the
release of their money ... We have recovered all of the
hostages," army spokesman Captain Benjamin Hao told Reuters.

The victims were on their way home when the ex-guards, armed
with assault rifles, stopped their minibus, pulled the driver out
and drove away with their captives to a remote village in Baloi,
Lanao del Norte province, 800 km south of Manila.