ZAMBOANGA (Philippines) - AL-QAEDA-LINKED militants have freed a nurse they held hostage for four months in the southern Philippines after her family paid a ransom, officials said on Saturday.

Regional police commander Chief Superintendent Bensali Jabarani said members of the Abu Sayyaf group handed over Ms Preciosa Feliciano late on Friday to provincial authorities on the island province of Basilan near the southern port city of Zamboanga.

Gunmen snatched the 24-year-old nurse in Jul and took her by boat to Basilan. Her family said she was missing for a week until the kidnappers called asking for ransom.

The victim's elder brother, Ben Feliciano, has told reporters the family paid 2 million pesos (S$59,856) to the kidnappers. The family also gave them a motorcycle and an M-16 rifle, he said.

The Abu Sayyaf still are holding two other hostages for ransom - nursing student Joed Anthony Pilangga and aid worker Millett Mendoza.

Mr Pilangga was kidnapped in Zamboanga last month.

Ms Mendoza was kidnapped in Sept along with four other fellow aid workers on Basilan, but three of them were immediately freed.

The other remaining hostage, Ms Esperancita Hupida, was released late last month after her family paid 2 million pesos in ransom.

The Abu Sayyaf is notorious for kidnappings, beheading hostages and bombings and is on the US list of terror groups.

It has been crippled by US-backed military offensives but continues to be a threat in the country's volatile south. -- AP