Fr Sinnott returns to Philippines

An 80-year-old Irish priest who was kidnapped and held hostage for a month in the southern Philippines has returned to the country and says he wants to resume his missionary work.

Fr Michael Sinnott flew back to Manila late Friday after a two-month holiday in Ireland following his release from captivity last November, according to a report today on the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

Gunmen who seized Sinnott from his home in Zamboanga del Sur province's capital of Pagadian city on October 11 had demanded a sunstantial ransom.

"It's very nice to be back, and I'm looking forward to going back to my work in Pagadian," the report quoted him as saying.

He said he wanted "to do the little bit I can for as long as I can".

The Philippines grappled with a spate of kidnappings last year, most of them blamed on al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants operating on islands farther south. The militants kidnapped three international Red Cross workers who were later freed following negotiations.

Philippine security officials blamed Sinnott's kidnapping on members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim separatist rebel group that has entered into peace talks with the government.

The rebels denied involvement. One of their leaders claimed his group applied "pressure and moral authority" on the gunmen to release Sinnott, who was freed on November 16.

Sinnott's superiors have not said if he will be allowed to resume his missionary duties.