TV crew missing on Jolo island

MANILA — A three-man news team for the Dubai-based Al Arabiya network, including a Jordanian man, are missing on a remote Philippine island notorious for militants and kidnappings, police said Friday.

Baker Atyani and his two Filipino crew failed to return to their hotel on Jolo island Tuesday, provincial police chief Antonio Freyra said. “The Jolo mayor offered to provide security for them, but they declined, saying they would not go far from their hotel,” Senior Superintendent Freyra said.

Freyra said there was no information yet as to whether they had been kidnapped, but said foreigners who ventured to the far southern island were targets for groups involved in abductions. — AFP