Gunmen abduct four people from Philippine island resort

(ANSA) - Manila, September 22 - Three foreigners and a Filipino woman were abducted by gunmen from a holiday resort on Samal island in the southern Philippines on Monday night, local police and military sources have said.
    The Norwegian manager of the tourist port at Holiday Oceanview Samal Resort, Kjartan Sekkingstad, Canadian nationals John Ridsel and Robert Hall and the Filipino wife of one of the Canadians were kidnapped.
    The commando also reportedly tried to abduct a foreign couple on board a yacht moored in the tourist port before escaping by motorboat.
    The authorities have not said who they think might be behind the abduction.
    However, they have set up a naval blockade around Samal to prevent the kidnappers from reaching Basilan island to the southwest, where the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf has a number of bases.
    In 2001 militants of Abu Sayyaf tried to abduct holidaymakers at the Pearl Farm Beach Resort south of Oceanview.