The lone surviving Canadian hostage in the southern Philippines has appeared in a new video, announcing that his captors will decapitate him and a Norwegian man next month if they do not receive $16 million in ransom first.
Robert Hall, looking drawn and gaunt, says he will be executed at 3 p.m. on June 13 if demands of the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf are not met.
“I appeal to my government and the Philippine government, as I have appealed before, for help,” he says in a calm but monotone voice, a phalanx of armed, masked extremists standing behind him.
An English text with the video specifies that a hostage will be beheaded if the ransom is not paid.
#AbuSayyafGroup in Philippines threatened to execute Canadian or Norwegian hostage if demand not met by June 13, 3pm
Rachna Mishra, a Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman, said the department is aware of the video, but will not speak publicly about it.
“The Government’s first priority is the safety and security of its citizens and therefore we will not comment or release any information which may compromise ongoing efforts or endanger the safety of the remaining hostages,” she said in an emailed statement.
The Associated PressCanadian hostages John Ridsdel, right, and Robert Hall are seen in an undated Abu Sayyaf video.
In the wake of Ridsdel’s slaying, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said adamantly that the government does not pay ransoms for hostages. Former government officials have said, though, that behind the scenes officials will consider almost anything in the effort to free captive Canadians.
The new video ends with a statement by one of the masked terrorists, his voice rising steadily to an angry crescendo, before he thrusts a machete in the air amid a chorus of “Alahu Akhbar” — Arabic for God is great.
“We say to the governments of Canada and the Philippines not to play games, for we are determined to slaughter all the captives if you do not comply with our demands,” the man says, reading from a smartphone screen. “We are not scared of you or your soldiers or airplanes.”
Both Hall and Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad are clad in orange coveralls, similar to hostages in videos produced by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, to which Abu Sayaff has pledged allegiance.
Hall, his Filipino girlfriend Maritess Flor, Ridsdel and Sekkingstad were snatched last September at a marina near the city of Davao, before being spirited by boat 500 kilometres away to Jolo island.
Hall, a Calgary native, has sold insurance, run a welding shop and acted in independent films, but reportedly sold everything in 2014 to buy a 36-foot sailboat, the Renova, which he helmed across the Pacific.
He appeared to have decided to settle in the Philippines, according to one published report, before being kidnapped.
The Philippines military stepped up its operations against Abu Sayyaf on Jolo after the first Canadian was killed, but there is little indication they have made progress in finding and freeing the remaining hostages.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-hostage-dies-on-june-13-unless-16-million-ransom-paid-filipino-terrorist-group-abu-sayyaf-says
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