Militants Behead Canadian Hostage

He was kidnapped in the Philippines 7 months ago
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 26, 2016 12:52 AM CDT
Militants Behead Canadian Hostage
Ridsdel was kidnapped from the Holiday Oceanview resort on Samal Island in the southern Philippines on Sept. 21, 2015   (AP Photo/Manuel Cayon)

The head of a Canadian man kidnapped by militants in the Philippines was dumped on a street Monday after a deadline to deliver an $8 million ransom expired. John Ridsdel, a 68-year-old mining consultant from Saskatchewan, was seized by Abu Sayyaf militants in a raid on an isolated resort last September, along with another Canadian man, a Filipino woman, and a Norwegian woman. An American man and his Japanese wife managed to escape their captors before the group was brought by boat to the island of Jolo, 300 miles away. Last week, the al-Qaeda-linked militants released a video in which Ridsdel, with a machete pressed to his neck, pleaded for his life and said this was his kidnappers' "final absolute warning," the National Post reports.

Authorities say two men on a motorcycle were seen dropping a plastic bag containing the head on a street in Jolo town. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was outraged by the killing and that Canadian authorities will work with the Philippines to pursue those responsible, the CBC reports. "This was an act of cold-blooded murder, and responsibility rests squarely with the terrorist group who took him hostage," he said. The Guardian reports that in addition to the other captives from the September raid, Abu Sayyaf is believed to still be holding a hostage from Japan, a Dutch citizen, four Malaysians, and the 14-man crew of an Indonesian tugboat. (More Philippines stories.)

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