Islamist militants behead Canadian hostage John Ridsdel

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief Public Affairs Officer, Colonel Noel Detoyato, gave a statement today regarding the execution of John Ridsdel. Reuters

Islamist terrorists have beheaded the Canadian hostage John Ridsdel, 68.

Justine Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, condemned the killing as an act of "cold-blooded murder".

Ridsdel, a former mining executive, was seized with three others from a popular holiday resort in the Philippines.

The Abu Sayyaf group kidnapped Ridsdel, along with fellow Canadian Robert Hall, Hall's Philippine girlfriend Maritest Flor and a Norwegian, Kjartan Sekkingstad, in September last year.

The Islamists then released a video last November demanding a £55 million ransom for all four.

Ridsdel's severed head was found on Jolo, a remote island, soon after the ransom deadline expired yesterday.

Trudeau said it was a "heinous act".

He said: "Canada condemns without reservation the brutality of the hostage-takers, and this unnecessary death. This was an act of cold-blooded murder and responsibility rests squarely with the terrorist group who took him hostage."

Bob Rae, a friend of Ridsdel, told CBC News: "It's hard, it's just very hard. I've been involved behind the scenes for the last six months trying to find a solution and it's been very painful."

Abu Sayyaf is a small ultra-extremist separatist group from the southern Philippines, and gets some funding from Al Qaeda.

The Philippines are mainly Catholic.

The group was responsible for a 2004 ferry bombing in Manila Bay which killed 100 people.

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