Militants in the
southern Philippines on Monday executed a Canadian hostage after ransom was not
paid, officials said.
The Abu Sayyaf terrorist group killed Robert Hall, 50,
after the deadline for ransom payment passed.
A spokesman, identified as Abu
Raami, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Hall’s body would be found
somewhere in the downtown area of Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of
Manila.
Raami earlier warned that the deadline for the payment of 600 million
pesos (13 million dollars) for the freedom of the three hostages would not be
extended beyond 3 p.m (0700 GMT) on Monday.
In Canada, Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau defended the government’s policy of not paying ransom for hostages.
Hall was the second Canadian to be executed by the Abu Sayyaf group.
“With the
tragic loss of two Canadians, I want to reiterate that terrorist
hostage-takings only fuel more violence and instability. “This is precisely why
the Government of Canada will not and cannot pay ransoms for hostages to
terrorist groups, as doing so would endanger the lives of more Canadians,”
Trudeau said in a statement.
The Philippine Government, which has not
officially confirmed Hall’s killing, had promised to rescue the three hostages,
who were kidnapped from the southern resort island of Samal in September. Hall
was being held with Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipino Marites Flor.
A
fourth hostage, Canadian John Ridsdel, was executed on April 25 after a ransom
deadline passed without payment. Norway condemned “the brutal killing of
Canadian citizen Robert Hall” by the militant group, Foreign Minister Borge
Brende, said in a statement.
Brende said Oslo was continuing “efforts to find a
solution for the (two) remaining hostages,” referring to Sekkingstad and Flor.
Last week, the Abu Sayyaf militants released four Malaysian tugboat crew
members abducted in waters off Tawi-Tawi province, the Philippines’
southernmost province, on April 1.
Authorities said they could not confirm if
ransom was paid, but the militants had demanded 200 million pesos (4.35 million
dollars) for the crew’s release.
