RP kidnappers up ransom demand

RP kidnappers up ransom demand

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP): Muslim extremists who kidnapped a 6-year-old girl in the southern Philippines have doubled the ransom demand to more than US$3,500, officials said here on Thursday.

The abductors, led by one Commander Ayub, have demanded settlement or the return of ancestral lands allegedly seized by her Filipina mother, Mina Rasul-Grant.

April Adzam-Grant, the step-daughter of a British national, was snatched last week by members of the notorious Abu Sayyaf group in the town of Lamitan in strife-torn southern Basilan island.

She was later transferred to the custody of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front group