Kidnapped girl's stepfather arrives in Philippines
The British stepfather of a girl kidnapped in the Philippines has arrived in the south-east Asian country.
The Foreign Office said 50-year-old Douglas Grant, from Inverness, had arrived in Manila where he was given a briefing by the British ambassador.
Mr Grant's stepdaughter, Eiman April, was taken from her home last week on the island of Basilan by suspected Muslim separatist guerillas.
The military had been closing in on a densely-forested area in Parang, Tubaran, on the island, but has pulled back while negotiations take place.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "There is still no news at the moment as to the child's whereabouts, but the Philippines Presidential Anti-Crime Task Force told the embassy that negotiations are under way for her release.
"At the moment, Mr Grant has got no plans to go to the island where she is being held at all, because we advise against travel to that area."
Mr Grant had settled in the Philippines with his wife, Mina, 43, the couple's 22-month-old daughter Khadija, and Eiman, his wife's daughter from a previous marriage.
But he was forced to return to Britain last August to care for his elderly parents. His family were waiting to join him in the UK when Eiman was snatched.
Earlier the military had suggested that Eiman's mother had organised the kidnapping to be carried out by relatives in a bid to extort a ransom of 100,000 pesos (£1,300) from Mr Grant.
But a report says the army now believe that while relatives were involved, Mrs Grant knew nothing of the kidnap plot.
