Police in the Philippines have arrested a suspect over the killing of Irish priest Fr Rufus Halley, who was shot dead during a failed kidnap attempt.
A police statement said Mr Abdul Samad Ibrahim drove the truck Muslim gunmen used in escaping after gunning down Fr Halley on Tuesday. Mr Ibrahim was arrested last night in the village of Lanao del Sur on southern Mindanao island.
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Fr Halley pictured recently with some of his parishoners
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The military has linked rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to the murder.
But the MILF, which earlier this month signed a ceasefire agreement with the government, has denied involvement in the killing and said it was conducting an investigation to identify the killers.
Fr Halley (57) was driving a motorcycle on his way back to his parish in Malabang town on Tuesday after attending a meeting of Christians and Muslims in another town.
At least six masked men blocked his path and shot him several times after he resisted attempts to abduct him, police said.
Fr Halley, a member of the Columban Fathers from Waterford, spent most of his 32 years in the Philippines working in mainly Muslim communities on Mindanao, a region racked by separatist conflicts.
He will be buried in Cagayan de Oro, a Christian city on Mindanao, on Saturday.