Philippine soldiers have killed a middle-ranking leader of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebel group in the troubled south of the country.
Faizal Abbas, who had a one million peso (€18,069) bounty on his head, was shot dead yesterday in a five-minute gunfight with soldiers who tried to arrest him in Jolo, an island off the southern province of Mindanao.
A military spokesman said today that Mr Abbas was wanted for the abduction of several French journalists three years ago in Jolo, where they were covering the kidnapping of European tourists from a Malaysian resort.
The journalists were later released.
He said Mr Abbas was also suspected to have taken part in the Malaysia kidnapping and other crimes on Jolo island.
The United States has blacklisted the Abu Sayyaf, which claims to be fighting for a separate Islamic state in the south of this mainly Roman Catholic country, calling it a terrorist group with suspected links to the al-Qaeda network.