MANILA, Philippines — Al-Qaida-linked militants freed an Italian Red Cross worker Sunday from six months of jungle captivity in the southern Philippines, officials said. The 62-year old said he was treated well but constantly feared being beheaded.

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

Vagni embraced military officers at a Jolo military camp, muttering "Thank you" repeatedly, said marine Col. Eugenio Clemen.

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 the Rev. Federico Lombardi was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.

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) 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 ABS-CBN network that he often imagined seeing "my head in a big basket."

TV footage showed Vagni, who grown a beard, smiling and waving to well-wishers. "I love them all," Vagni said.

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"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 gunbattles, 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, ANSA reported.

The aid worker, who suffers from hypertension and a hernia, was kidnapped along with two Red Cross colleagues after inspecting a Jolo jail water project Jan. 15.

The Swiss and the Filipino hostages had been freed earlier, but the Abu Sayyaf held on to Vagni for months, entering into on-and-off negotiations for his release while government troops tried to rescue him.

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.

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

Gordon said that Sulu Vice Gov. Lady Ann Sahidulla was asked by the militants to escort Vagni to safety and that she "donated" 50,000 pesos ($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, Col. Clemen said. It was not immediately clear if the women have been released in exchange for Vagni's freedom.

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

Offensives against the Abu Sayyaf will continue, he said.

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-Qaida.

The militants have turned to kidnappings 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 offensives.

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Associated Press writers Oliver Teves from Manila, Philippines and Frances d'Emilio from Rome contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS UPDATES with quote from freed hostage. corrects Vagni's age to 62. TRIMS. UPDATES photos. CHANGES headlines.)