MANILA (5th update) -- An Italian Red Cross worker released hours earlier by the Abu Sayyaf has arrived in Manila from Zamboanga City on Sunday.

In a TV report, Eugenio Vagni, 62, was seen hugging and kissing his wife Khun Kwan and two-year-old daughter Leticia when he arrived at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City before noon.

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Vagni is expected to be turned over to the members of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Italian Ambassador Rubens Anna Fedele.

He appeared to be in good health but tired when Abu Sayyaf gunmen handed him over to a provincial vice governor shortly after midnight in a jungle near Maimbung township on southern Jolo Island, officials said.

Vagni said he was treated well by his Abu Sayyaf captors, who called him "Apo," a local term of respect for the elderly. He lost about 44 pounds (20 kilograms), grew a beard, and was fed mostly rice and fish. The militants helped treat his cholera and carried his backpack when he got tired, but that did not ease his constant fear of being beheaded.

Vagni told reporters that he often imagined seeing "my head in a big basket."

In Vatican City, Pope Benedict XVI felt relieved that the abduction was over and took Vagni's release as a "sign of hope and of faith," Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi was quoted as saying.

Lombardi said others held by kidnappers in various conflict zones in the world must not be forgotten and "we hope that similar, unacceptable violence is not repeated."

"He was weak but obviously very happy to have regained his freedom," Marine Col. Eugenio Clemen said.

Vagni, who had difficulty walking because of a hernia, embraced military officers at a Jolo military camp muttering "thank you" repeatedly, said Clemen, who helped oversee rescue operations for Vagni. He was given coffee and noodles and examined by doctors at a trauma hospital in the camp before going to sleep.

Another TV footage showed Vagni smiling and waving to well-wishers and soldiers at the hospital. "I love them all," Vagni said.

"I'm very elated that the ordeal is over for Vagni," said Sen. Richard Gordon, who heads the Philippine Red Cross. "It's been six months of constant fear of gun battles, of being ordered around, of being held away from his wife and children."

Vagni's brother, Francesco, told reporters in Italy that "there were moments that I believed he would never come back." The two brothers spoke by phone.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in an interview with Italian state TV that no ransom had been paid for Vagni's release. There has been speculation that a large ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

Gordon said that Sulu Vice Gov. Lady Ann Sahidulla was asked by the militants to escort Vagni to safety and that she "donated" P50,000 (US$1,041) to an intermediary, but he stressed this was not a ransom.

The kidnappers were also pressured by the recent arrests of the two wives of Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad, who held Vagni, Clemen said. It was not immediately clear if the women have been released in exchange for Vagni's freedom.

Immediately after his release and before he flew to Manila, Vagni was brought to southern Zamboanga City, where Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Victor Ibrado turned him over to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"Skillful negotiations and incessant pressure by relentless operations by members of the security forces won the release of Vagni," Philippine marine spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said.

He said the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf will continue.

Frattini also expressed gratitude that no government attacks were necessary to free the hostage.

The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 400 fighters, is on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations because its bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings of hostages have rattled the southern Philippines for decades. The group is suspected of receiving funds and training from al-Qaeda.

The group and its allies have turned to kidnappings to make money in recent years, raising concerns among Philippine and U.S. security officials that ransom payments could revive the group, which has been weakened by years of U.S.-backed military offensives. (AP/Sunnex)