Abu Sayyaf holding Canadian, Norwegian sets new ransom deadline | Global News

Abu Sayyaf holding Canadian, Norwegian sets new ransom deadline

/ 02:14 PM May 16, 2016

Islamist extremists in the Philippines who last month beheaded a Canadian man say they will kill another Western hostage if a multi-million dollar ransom is not paid within four weeks.

A video released by Abu Sayyaf — whose leaders have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group — shows Canadian Robert Hall and Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad wearing orange shirts in a jungle setting, surrounded by hooded, armed men.

The men say their captors have threatened to kill at least one of them if no payment is received by June 13.

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A caption on the video, carried by the terror-monitoring SITE Intelligence Group, says Abu Sayyaf is demanding P600 million.

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In April, the group killed Canadian John Ridsdel after a ransom deadline passed.

READ: Beheaded despite P20-M ransom

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Ridsdel, Hall, Sekkingstad, and Hall’s Filipina girlfriend were abducted in 2015 from a resort on Samal island, hundreds of kilometers from Abu Sayyaf’s traditional strongholds.

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The group has been blamed for the worst terror attacks in Philippine history.

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Although its leaders have pledged fealty to the Islamic State group, analysts say they are more focused on lucrative kidnappings-for-ransom than on setting up a caliphate.

READ: After hostage beheading, is Philippines facing IS threat?

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The group is believed to have just a few hundred militants but has withstood repeated US-backed military offensives, surviving by using the mountainous, jungle terrain of the southern islands to its advantage.

The Abu Sayyaf are also believed to be holding four Malaysians, a Dutch bird-watcher and four Filipinos, seized in separate raids.

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READ: 4 Malaysians reported seized by Abu Sayyaf

TAGS: Abu Sayyaf, Abu Sayyaf group, ASG, deadline, kidnap, Kidnapping, Kjartan Sekkingstad, Ransom, Robert Hall

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