Abu Sayyaf captives ask Canada, Norway anew:  Negotiate for our safety

ZAMBOANGA CITY —  The Abu Sayyaf has released a new video of the three foreigners and a Filipina who were kidnapped from the Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte in September last year.

In the video, the Canadian and Norwegian captives were apparently forced to plead for help to their governments.  A hooded Abu Sayyaf member warned that “something terrible”  would be done to the four victims if ransom demands were not met by April 8.

The one-minute, 37-second video was posted on the Facebook page of “Pamantasan ng Tawheed at Jihad Filibin.” In the video, one of the six armed men forced three of their captives to ask for help.

Canadian John Ridsdel was the first to beg. “For my wife, to my family and this is so much bigger than family, to the Canadian Prime Minister and to the Canadian people in the world, please, do as needed to meet their demand within one month or they will kill me, they will execute us,” Ridsdel said while a man wearing held a bolo on his neck.

Canadian Robert Hall, who was seated beside his Filipina girlfriend Flor, was next. “I am a Canadian citizen being held by the Abu Sayyaf Group for ransom, the amount is, I do not know what it is. But the Canadian government has got to get us out of here fast, to do what is necessary to get us out of here soon. We got one month before this happens,” he said.

Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad said it was his “last message to my family, friends and authorities.”

“Follow the negotiation, try to meet their demands within 30 days or we are all dead,” he said.

The victims were kidnapped from the Overview Marina in the Island Garden City of Samal in September last year.  SFM