Three men kidnapped by Islamist militants in the southern Philippines escaped while their captors prayed, dodging bullets as they ran, police said Saturday after a ruse using fake ransom money failed. The construction workers were taken to the police on Jolo island on Friday, four weeks after being abducted by the Abu Sayyaf group, which is holding more than a dozen other hostages including several foreigners in remote jungles. The gunmen had received an undetermined amount of cash for the hostages on Thursday, but refused to release them after realising the money was fake, regional police chief Reuben Sindac told AFP.



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