Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the southern Philippines on Saturday released an emaciated-looking Australian man near a coastal town where they kidnapped him for ransom 15 months ago.
Warren Richard Rodwell was brought to police by residents of Pagadian city who saw him walking before dawn near the fishing port, where his abductors dropped him off, said local police chief Julius Munez.
Rodwell “looked OK, just tired. But he looked like he lost a lot of weight,” Munez said.
In Washington where he is on a visit, Foreign Minister Bob Carr welcomed the news, saying the release was a joint effort by authorities in both countries, and that the focus now was on Rodwell’s speedy recovery.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard praised Rodwell’s family for showing “a great deal of courage and stoicism in what has been a tremendously difficult situation.”
“I think all Australians will be very pleased to hear this news and delighted on behalf of the Rodwell family,” she said.
Rodwell was taken by helicopter chartered by the US military to the US Joint Special Operations Task Force facility inside a Philippine military camp in Zamboanga city, about 880 kilometres (550 miles) south of Manila, said regional military spokesman Col. Rodrigo Gregorio.
