Warren Rodwell is released in Pagadian City in the southern Philippines, 15 months after he was taken captive by rebels from the Abu Sayyaf group.
KIDNAPPERS in the Philippines were paid a $94,000 ransom to release Australian hostage Warren Rodwell.
Basilan vice-governor Al Rasheed Sakalahul has revealed Abu Sayyaf, the leader of Islamic militants Pujuri Indama, was paid the equivalent of A$94,000, not $164,000 as previously reported.
Mr Sakalahul said he knew the exact amount because the kidnapper counted the money in front of him and Roger Gutang, brother of Mr Rodwell's wife Miraflor.
"Throughout the negotiations, I only served as guide. I am willing to be subjected to a lie detector test," told the Inquirer Global Nation in the Philippines.
"If this is what the reports are saying, I challenge the Australian Embassy, Flor, Roger and Rodwell to an open media briefing so the truth would come out.''
Former soldier and Australian citizen Warren Rodwell has been released by al-Qaida-linked captors who held him hostage in the Philippines for over one year.
Mr Sakalahul said Mr Gutang served as the bag man who handed the money to the group.
"It was the wife Flor who worked hard. She called me asking help to determine if indeed her husband was till alive," Mr Sakalahul said.
He said initially that he did not know if any ransom was paid for Rodwell's release.
"My role was to determine if Rodwell was alive through a proof of life," he said.
Warren Richard Rodwell arrives at the Phillippines Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City, 850km south of Manilla. Picture: AP
Proof of life was obtained after Mr Rodwell was able to answer a question about something only he and his parents knew – "Where did Rodwell live when he was 12 years old?"
Mr Sakalahul told the paper he received that proof of life through a phone call, with Mr Rodwell himself answering "Gill Goulburn and West Tamworth."
Mr Rodwell, 54, looking emaciated and exhausted, was taken to Pagadian City by Abu Sayyaf Islamic fighters after his release on Saturday, 15 months after being kidnapped.
Authorities picked up the former Australian soldier and adventurer after receiving a phone call from his captors.
Warren Rodwell sits next to Philippine police superintendent Jilius Munez (R) at the police station in Pagadian City in southern island of Mindanao shortly after his release. Picture: Jong Cadion/AFP
"I look like a racing dog," Rodwell said in a video shown on Seven News.
His captors had demanded a $2 million ransom and released several proof-of-life photos and videos in which they threatened to execute their victim in "an unusual way".
"I personally hold no hope at all for being released," Mr Rodwell said in a video last December, adding he knew little about any negotiations taking place.
He said most of his captors did not speak English.
Posted on Dec 26, 2012 Warren Rodwell is an Australian national who was kidnapped in southern Philippines last year
In a short video taken yesterday after his release, Mr Rodwell takes off a blue T-shirt and, smiling, points to his ribs and says: "Lose weight".
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the outcome was a huge relief for Mr Rodwell's family.
"I think all Australians will be very pleased to hear this news and delighted on behalf of the Rodwell family," Ms Gillard said.
"Mr Rodwell's family have shown a great deal of courage and stoicism in what has been a tremendously difficult situation."
Australian Warren Rodwell, in a new proof-of-life photo issued by kidnappers in the Philippines. Picture: Facebook
Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr said the Australian Government had a strict policy against paying ransoms and would neither confirm nor deny whether the Rodwell family had arranged for any payment to be made.
Mr Rodwell may have lost half his body weight in captivity.
His kidnappers, the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf, have described hostage payments as being for "food and lodging".
"The Australian Government never pays ransoms - to do so would leave Australians exposed in all parts of the world to kidnappers who'd be motivated by a desire to get money and to get it fast from the Australian Government," Senator Carr told the ABC.
"But I won't comment on arrangements that may have been made by Mr Rodwell's family and Abu Sayyaf, the kidnappers, made through the Philippines anti-kidnapping unit and their police force."
Mr Rodwell was snatched on December 5, 2011, from his residence near Ipil, where he ran a store with his Filipina wife Miraflor Gutang. It is believed Mr Rodwell was wounded in the violent kidnapping.
Al-Rasheed Sakkalahul, who negotiated with the Abu Sayyaf for Mr Rodwell's release, said the militants called him to confirm the release.
"Rodwell's family directly negotiated with the kidnappers and I do not know if they paid ransom ... my role was to get Rodwell out safely," he said.
Senator Carr said he had spoken to Mr Rodwell's "enormously relieved" sister Denise, who would fly to the Philippines.
"It's a good outcome, but I imagine that he's going to take some time to recover from what was a very unsettling experience, to say the least," he said.
Mr Rodwell was flown from Pagadian to Zamboanga, where it was understood he was being cared for and debriefed at the Philippines-US joint counter-terrorism base at Camp Navarro.
Early reports suggested Mr Rodwell attempted to fight off his kidnappers when he was initially taken.
Bloodstains were found beside his house after he was taken away by kidnappers dressed in police uniforms.
They used speedboats to take him away through a string of neighbouring islands.
Abu Sayyaf is among a number of militant Islamic separatist groups seeking to establish an Islamic enclave in the southern Philippines.
The group has a history of using kidnappings to raise funds and is known to have received support from al-Qaida.
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