3 Feb 2013

Philippine hostages released

4:05 pm on 3 February 2013

Police in the Philippines say Islamist militants have freed two Filipinos being held captive in the jungle for nearly eight months.

The two men were part of a Jordanian television crew seized along with a Jordanian reporter in the southern Sulu province.

The men were captured as they set out to interview Abu Sayyaf militants, a group linked to al-Qaeda.

The BBC reports that a number of foreigners are being held for ransom in the southern Philippines.

Areas within Sulu province, whose capital is Jolo, and the wider region are used as bases by Islamist militants and rebel groups.

The Jordanian reporter is still missing.