Philippine officials confirm Canadian hostage was beheaded

A Norwegian man and a Filipino woman are still being held by the Muslim rebel group.

The victim, Robert Hall, was the second Canadian hostage to be executed in two months after the group’s demands for a ransom of 6 and a half million United States dollars was not met.

“With the tragic loss of two Canadians, I want to reiterate that terrorist hostage-takings only fuel more violence and instability”, he said.

“We have every reason to believe that the reports are unfortunately true”, Mr Trudeau said.

“We strongly condemn the brutal and senseless murder of Mr. Robert Hall”, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Abu Sayyaf had initially demanded one billion pesos (£15 million) each for the detainees, but it lowered the ransom to 300 million pesos (£4.5 million) each early this year.

Philippines President Benigno Aquino too condemned the execution.

Abu Sayyaf militants in the Philippines had demanded a ransom of $13 million for Robert Hall, but the deadline of June 13 passed without the Canadian government giving in to the demand.

The two Canadian men – along with Hall’s Filipina partner, Marites Flor, and Norwegian national Kjartan Sekkingstad – were taken in a raid on the Oceanview Resort on Samal Island, which lies off the coast of the southern island of Mindanao.

“We do have an extraterritorial investigation that we are pursuing to get the offenders who are engaged in these murders”.

Hall was born in Calgary, but lived various places in Western Canada, and his career path took him from insurance sales to welding to acting, the Globe and Mail reported after he was taken hostage last September.

The Washington-based SITE Intelligence group said the militants released a video that showed Ridsdel, 68, being beheaded.

Trudeau reiterated Monday that Canada will not pay any ransom that would endanger the lives of more Canadians.

However, Arjun Chowdury, an assistant professor of political science at the University of British Columbia, told the Star that Canadians remain at risk overseas irrespective of whether ransom is paid.

“When country A pays a ransom and country B does not, you have an incentive to kidnap somebody from country B and execute them to send a signal to the government and citizens of country A, ‘Look, we’re serious'”.

The government of the Philippines confirmed Tuesday that a second Canadian national, Robert Hall, had been killed by the radical Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf.

“We are more committed than ever to working with the government of the Philippines and global partners to pursue those responsible for these heinous acts and bring them to justice, however long it takes”. Our thoughts are with them as they mourn this tragedy. “I can not emphasize this enough that a safe and secure environment for foreigners who are visiting is necessary”, Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines Neil Reeder stressed during a press briefing of the Department of Tourism (DOT) in Makati City yesterday.