(UPDATE) Malaysian released by Abu Sayyaf militants in Sulu

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Abu Sayyaf militants released a Malaysian fish breeder in southern Philippines of Sulu, five months after he was seized from his farm in Malaysia, the military said today.

The victim, Chan Sai Chuin, boarded a speedboat to Malaysia after his freedom, said Rowena Muyuela, spokesperson of the military's Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City.

Muyuela said Chuin was released around 11 p.m. Tuesday in Indanan town, Sulu Province through negotiations.

A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Chuin was released after his family paid 13 million pesos (292, 000 US Dollars) in ransom to the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

Chuin was kidnapped by a group of militants on July 16 from his fish farm in Sapong Kunak, Malaysia.  

The 400-strong ASG, founded in the early 1990s by Islamic extremists, is a violent Muslim group operating in the southern Philippines. The ASG is notorious for a series of kidnappings, bombings and even beheading in southern Philippines over the past decades.