MANILA, Philippines — Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the southern Philippines have freed an ailing Italian Red Cross worker from six months of captivity, officials said.
Eugenio Vagni, 63, appeared to be in good health but weak as Abu Sayyaf captors handed him over today to a provincial vice governor in a jungle near Maimbung township on southern Jolo Island, officials said.
“He was weak but obviously very happy to have regained his freedom,” marine Col. Eugenio Clemen told The Associated Press by telephone.
Vagni, who had difficulty walking because of a hernia, embraced military officers at a Jolo military camp, saying “thank you” repeatedly, said Clemen, who helped oversee rescue operations for Vagni.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that no ransom had been paid.
The aid worker, who suffers from hypertension and a hernia, was kidnapped along with two Red Cross colleagues after inspecting a Jolo jail water project Jan. 15. The Swiss and the Filipino hostages had been freed earlier.
