June 22, 1995, Seattle Times News Services, Philippine extremists free boy, 10, after four months,

June 22, 1995, Seattle Times News Services, Philippine extremists free boy, 10, after four months,

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Suspected Muslim extremists have freed a 10-year-old Chinese-Filipino boy after more than four months of captivity in the southern Philippines, the boy's relatives said today.

Eduard Tsang, a native of the town of Ipil, which was attacked by Muslim extremists in April, was released Tuesday and was taken by his mother to Manila for his safety, a relative said.

Kidnappers who have links to the radical Abu Sayyaf group seized Tsang last February, a few weeks before Muslim gunmen killed 53 unarmed civilians in his hometown.

The gunmen had originally demanded $2 million in ransom, then reduced it to $400,000. The family conducted its own negotiations with the kidnappers and refused to cooperate with police.

Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for a string of bomb attacks and kidnappings of Roman Catholic priests, nuns and rich Chinese-Filipinos in the area. The group opposes any peace agreement with the government in Manila and wants to establish an Islamic state in the Philippines' troubled southern islands.