Philippines' Duterte says time will come to confront Abu Sayyaf

Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a conference with businessmen in Davao city, southern Philippines June 21, 2016. REUTERS/Lean Daval Jr

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte on Friday the time will come when he will have to confront the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Islamist militants in the south of the mainly Catholic country. On Friday, Indonesia's foreign minister said a halt on coal shipments to the Philippines will remain until Manila can secure its waters after seven Indonesian sailors were kidnapped, the latest in a string of abductions. "There will be a time that I will have to confront the Abu Sayyaf," Duterte said during after meeting a Filipino woman who was freed after nine months of captivity. "The kidnapping must stop." (Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Nick Macfie)