Canadian hostage killed in Philippines
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A Canadian man held captive by Islamist militants for months in the Philippines has been killed.
John Ridsdel, 68, was taken from a tourist resort along with three others by the Abu Sayyaf group in September last year.
Confirming the death, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it “an act of coldblooded murder”.
On Monday a severed head was found on a remote Philippine island, hours after an Abu Sayyaf ransom deadline expired.
The Philippine army has not confirmed if it belonged to one of the captives.
Mr Ridsdel was kidnapped from a marina near the city of Davao along with another Canadian, Robert Hall; a Norwegian, Kjartan Sekkingstad; and a Philippine woman, Mr Hall’s girlfriend, Marites Flor.
They were taken 500km (300 miles) to the island of Jolo. Abu Sayyaf released a video of the group in November, demanding $80m (£55m) for their release.
Mr Ridsdel later warned that he was due to be killed if no ransom was paid.
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Several hours after the deadline, a severed head was found in a street on Jolo. The Philippine authorities said it belonged to a foreign man but it has not yet been formally identified.
Former mining executive
“It’s hard,” a friend of Mr Ridsdel, Bob Rae, told CBC News. “It’s just very hard. I’ve been involved behind the scenes for the last six months trying to find a solution and it’s been very painful.”
A former mining executive, Mr Ridsdel is described by Canadian media as semi-retired.
He also worked as a journalist.
Offering his condolences, Mr Trudeau gave few details, saying he would not compromise the safety of the other captives.
Abu Sayyaf was set up in the 1990s with funding from al-Quaeda, and is fighting for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.
One of its commanders recently pledged allegiance to so-called Islamic State. The group is also holding several other foreigners.
Eighteen Philippine soldiers were killed in clashes with the militants on Basilan island near Jolo island earlier this month.
-bbc
ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson
[email protected] An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.
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