Kidnappers Free Volunteer Held in West Bank

After being held hostage for a day by Palestinians, a 24-year-old volunteer who had been teaching English in West Bank refugee camps has been released and appears unharmed, reports The Associated Press.

Michael Leighton Phillips served as a volunteer for Project Hope, a humanitarian group that sponsors English teachers and provides medical relief, among other activities. Mr. Phillips had recently graduated from college and was on his second three-month rotation in the West Bank.

A group called Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and had sent copies of Mr. Phillips’s passport to a foreign news agency before releasing him a few hours later. Local security officials said they were unaware of Ansar al-Sunna, although The Associated Press reported that groups in Iraq and Lebanon operate under that name.