The second video ended with a new demand for money from Abu Sayyaf or it vowed it would murder Hall, his Filipina girlfriend, Marites Flor and a Norwegian, Kjartan Sekkingstad.
Abu Sayyaf, the Philippine militant group, has released a horrifying video in which Canadian John Ridsdel’s killer can be seen beheading him and a second video in which another Canadian, Robert Hall, pleads with the Canadian government to intervene and save him.
A young man with closely cropped hair wearing a black T-shirt and wielding a machete grabbed Ridsdel’s head by his hair in the first video and forced the 68-year-old disheveled, desperate-looking Canadian to the ground before murdering him as three masked men armed with assault rifles stood nearby.
Police and military sources did not return calls after the video was released late Monday local time.
“John Ridsdel was beheaded on 4/25 due to non-compliance of Canadian government,” the video said.
That was an apparent reference to what the group had said was its final ultimatum in a video that it released on April 21. Abu Sayyaf demanded that it be paid more than $32 million in return for the release of the 68-year-old Calgarian and three others seized with him on the same night last September including British Columbian Robert Hall. If was not paid it said that one of the hostages would be murdered on April 25.
The Trudeau government, like the Harper government before it, has declared that it does not pay ransom to kidnappers of Canadian citizens.
In the second video, which was released soon after the first on Monday, Hall looked gaunt and extremely haggard and his voice was devoid of emotion.
“To the Canadian government, I’m told to tell you to meet the demand,” Hall said as he looked at the ground. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re not doing anything for us.
“John has been sacrificed, his family has been decimated, and I’m not sure why or what you’re waiting for.”
Hall appealed to the Philippine government to “please stop shooting at us and trying to kill us. These guys are going to do a good job of that.”
The second video ended with a new demand for money from Abu Sayyaf or it vowed it would murder Hall, his Filipina girlfriend, Marites Flor and a Norwegian, Kjartan Sekkingstad.
Rita Katz @Rita_Katz
3) Beheading video of #Canadian #JohnRidsdel by #AbuSayyaf Group is brutal, barbaric, extremely graphic, and most disturbing
“Note to the Philippine government and Canadian government. The lesson is clear. John Ridsdel has been beheaded,” a man wearing a mask is heard saying.
“Now there are three remaining captives here. If you procrastinate once again the negotiations we will behead this all anytime.”
The tape concludes with the men shouting “God is great” in Arabic and in the local Tausug language.
John Ridsdel's killer. @siteintelgroup
News of the existence of both videos was first reported on Twitter by Site Intelligence Group, which describes itself as a private terrorist tracking organization.
“This isn’t the first time that executions have been uploaded to the Internet by Abu Sayyaf,” Marc Singer of Pacific Strategies said. The tactic was used by Abu Sayyaf last year and is similar to videos by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant that have often appeared on the Internet.
“It is a manifestation of their willingness to do this to leverage their criminal activities. They are first and foremost a kidnap group,” the security and risk analyst said
“The black flags and the rhetoric reinforce their claims, but they are not ideologically driven. They are driven totally by criminal intent and kidnap for ransom.”
An earlier still from a militant video showed Canadians John Ridsdel, right, and Robert Hall being held captive.
However, what was “somewhat unusual,” he said, was “to see an execution so closely followed by a fresh demand and a new threat to kill remaining hostages. We see this as evidence of desperation on their part to generate revenues from their criminal activities.”
Ridsdel, Hall, Flor and Kjartan Sekkingstad were kidnapped from a marina near Davao is southern Mindanao and taken 500 kilometres west by sea to Jolo Island. About half the size of Prince Edward Island, it is an Abu Sayyaf stronghold near where Filipino, Indonesian and Malaysian waters intersect.
“What they did was anti-Islam. We highly condemn it,” said Sammy Al-Mansour, military chief of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a story published Tuesday.
According to his sources, Ridsdel’s killers were still on Jolo Island, Al-Mansour said.
“We are helping in tracking down by gathering information. We just need proper coordination. And if government forces have information too, they can pass it to us and we will forward it to our joint forces on the ground.”
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is one of the more moderate of Mindanao’s many militant organizations. Eighteen months ago, it held talks with Assistant Commissioner Randy Beck of the RCMP about establishing a new civilian police force in one of the most violence-prone areas in the Philippines.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has been involved in several clashes with Abu Sayyaf forces in recent weeks, the Inquirer said.
The radical Islamic group released a video 11 days ago which showed Ridsdel and those kidnapped with him and demanded that if more than $8 million in ransom per hostage was not paid by April 25 one of the hostages would be executed. Within hours of that ultimatum having passed, Ridsdel’s head was tossed from a passing motorcycle in the town of Jolo. The Canadian government identified the remains as being Ridsdel’s several hours later.
Last Wednesday, the headless torso of a Caucasian male was found by the Philippine military, which continues a major offensive against Abu Sayyaf in mountainous jungle terrain a few kilometres northeast of the town of Jolo.
Ten Indonesian sailors were released by Abu Sayyaf on Sunday. A ransom of about $1 million had been demanded for their release.
Indonesian and Filipino media reported that a ransom had been paid, but this was denied by Indonesian and Filipino authorities.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/abu-sayyaf-reportedly-releases-video-showing-beheading-of-canadian-hostage-john-ridsdel
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.