priest

An extensive police and military search is under way in the Philippines for an abducted Irish priest.

Fr Michael Sinnott, a Columban Father from Co Wexford, was abducted by an armed gang in the city of Pagadian while he was taking his evening stroll.

No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction, however, police and military said they suspect that either the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were involved.

Fr Sinnott was forcibly dragged away at gunpoint and transferred to a waiting van, which was subsequently found abandoned near a coastal area.

One witness said he was then beaten up and transferred to a small motorised boat.

The 79-year-old priest underwent heart by-pass surgery a few years ago.

Pagadian Archbishop Emmanuel Cabajar has appealed to Fr Sinnott’s captors to free the priest.

‘I am concerned about his safety. I am calling on his captors to free him. Please do not hurt him,’ Archbishop Cabajar said.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, a fellow Columban priest said Fr Sinnott does not have his medication with him.

Fr Dan O’Malley said Fr Sinnott’s family are still coming to terms with the news he has been kidnapped.

Fr Sinnott is the third Irish priest from the Columban Society to be kidnapped in the area since 1997.

see more:http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1012/sinnottm.html