Canadian hostage killed by militants in the Philippines

A Canadian hostage was killed by Islamic militants in the Philippines, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday.

Trudeau said he was "outraged" by the "cold-blooded murder" of John Ridsdel, who was kidnapped at a marina near Davao on Sept. 21, 2015, along with Robert Hall, a Canadian tourist; Hall's girlfriend, Marites Flor of the Philippines; and resort manager Kjartan Sekkingstad of Norway. Militants from the Abu Sayyaf Islamist terrorist group released a video six weeks later showing the men and asking for $21 million each for their release. Several more videos were released, and in the most recent one, Ridsdel announced his captors planned to kill him on April 25 if they did not receive a ransom of $6.4 million.

Police in the Abu Sayyaf stronghold of Jolo told AFP hours after the deadline passed, two people on a motorbike dropped off a human head near city hall. Ridsdel was in his late 60s, and had retired in the Philippines after moving there to manage a gold mine. Trudeau said Canada is working with the Philippines to find and hold Ridsdel's killers responsible and release the remaining hostages. Analysts say that Abu Sayyaf recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, but their main goal is to collect ransom money rather than wage an ideological war or create a caliphate, AFP reports.

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