MANILA, Philippines - Police say a Sri Lankan peace activist has become the latest victim of a wave of kidnappings in the southern Philippines blamed on al-Qaida-linked militants.
Basilan island police chief Salik Macapantar said Omar Jalil from the non-partisan group Nonviolent Peaceforce, which has been monitoring a decades-old Muslim separatist uprising in the Philippines, was taken by nine gunmen from his Basilan residence.
The Filipino caretaker of the house managed to escape.
Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants, notorious for ransom kidnappings and terror attacks, are holding three teachers and a lending company employee on Basilan.
They are also holding three international Red Cross workers, including two Europeans, on nearby Jolo island.
