Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Jordanian journalist Baker Atyani, who spent around 550 days in the captivity of armed groups in the Philippines, was released on Wednesday.

The Al Arabiya News channel correspondent and Islamabad bureau chief was abducted in June 2012 by militants affiliated with the Abu Sayyaf group.

In a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times, Al Arabiya said the abductors handed Atyani over to representatives of the Patikul municipality on the island of Sulu, who in turn handed him over to “local authorities and the governor’s office, where the Philippine authorities will bear their responsibility of securing his return to his family in Jordan, as soon as possible”.

The statement quoted an authorised source as saying that Atyani is “suffering from diseases as a result of captivity amidst difficult circumstances” and was transferred to a local hospital for medical check-up immediately after his release.

Atyani was released following efforts by Al Azhar, the Jerusalem mufti, the Palestinian Scholars Council and the Mindanao’s Association of Muslim Scholars, the statement said.

Efforts were also made by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and by several Arab and international diplomatic committees, “in sync with MBC Group’s and Al Arabiya’s daily follow-up, as well as the continuous cooperation and patience of Atyani’s family”, the statement added.

Atyani, an expert in covering Pakistan, Afghanistan and Southeast Asia, arrived in the Philippine’s capital, Manila, on June 5, 2012 to work on a documentary on the situation of Muslims in the south.