Video shows kidnapped Irish missionary
31/10/2009 - 11:25:58Kidnappers of an Irish missionary seized in the southern Philippines are demanding a €1.4m ransom in exchange for his freedom.
In a video obtained by government negotiators and broadcast on GMA television in Manila today, the ailing Fr Michael Sinnott appealed in a weak voice to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, to the Irish government, to his fellow Columban missionaries and friends “who may have pity... to help so that I can get out of here as soon as possible.”
The video shows the 79-year-old cleric holding a copy of the October 22 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper. That was 11 days after his abduction.
Gunmen seized Fr Sinnott in southern Pagadian city in Zamboanga del Sur province in the latest hostage crisis to grip this predominantly Roman Catholic nation, which has grappled with decades-long Muslim separatist unrest in the south.
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