Asia-Pacific
Gunmen free 9 Philippine hostages, demand pardon
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-12-11 14:07
MANILA, Philippines: Government-armed former militiamen have freed nine out of 57 hostages they seized in the remote southern Philippines, and are demanding that murder charges against them be dropped before releasing the other captives.
Police say they were trying to arrest two brothers among the gunmen on murder charges. One of the brothers, Joebert Perez, told reporters Friday the charges are fabricated and blamed a rival clan for the killings, demanding that police disarm the rival clan before the rest of the hostages are released.
