The Philippines-based jihadi group Abu Sayyaf Group released a video of hostages being including Canadian Robert Hall
With the clock ticking down to a June 13 deadline imposed by Abu Sayyaf terrorists for Ottawa to pay an $8-million ransom in exchange for the life of Robert Hall, there is scant new information about the Calgary native’s dire situation and little hope at the moment that his fate will be different than that of another Canadian, John Ridsdel, who was beheaded by the same group in April.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeated at the G7 summit in Japan last week that Canada will not pay ransoms to win the freedom of kidnap victims, because to do so would finance terrorism and encourage further abductions that would put even more lives at risk.
A much publicized military offensive against Abu Sayyaf that began before Ridsdel’s death on the same island in Mindanao where the Muslim group is believed to be holding Hall, his Filipina girlfriend, Marites Flor, and Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, has apparently bogged down after initially retaking some lost territory.
46 Retweets 11 likes#AbuSayyafGroup released new vid of Canadian, Norwegian, and Filipina hostages asking Philippine Pres-elect for help
“Reading the tea leaves, I see no noticeable developments,” said Mark Singer, director of business intelligence for the Manila office of Pacific Strategies and Assessments Inc.
Philippine’s president-elect, Rodrigo Duterte, had a nine-minute conversation with Trudeau last week in which Duterte said he apologized for Hall’s abduction. The prime minister’s office has confirmed that the conversation took place but declined to comment on what was said because to do so “may compromise ongoing efforts or endanger the safety of remaining hostages.”
Duterte “presumably vowed to go after Abu Sayyaf,” Singer said. “But we don’t see anything specific that makes us believe that any new operation is likely to come before the deadline.”
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/matthew-fisher-outlook-dire-for-canadian-kidnap-victim-robert-hall-as-ransom-deadline-nears
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.