Gunmen free two kidnap victims

Gunmen free two kidnap victims

MANILA (Reuter): Moslem gunmen freed the wife of a wealthy
landowner and a family driver they had been holding hostage in
the southern Philippines after the army threatened to attack
their hideout, officials said yesterday.

The kidnappers, described by the military as former separatist
guerrillas turned bandits, had demanded 15 million pesos
(US$575,000) for the release of the pair but no ransom was paid,
the officials said.

Luzviminda Catudan, 54, and driver Arturo Roa had been held
for 33 days. They were freed unharmed in a village in Maguindanao
province on Saturday, Governor Norodin Matalam said by telephone
from the provincial capital, Cotabato.

"We surrounded their hideout and told them if they will not
release the victims, we will attack," Matalam said.