Canadian beheaded in Philippines
Islamic militants in the Philippines have beheaded a Canadian hostage, raising fears for more than 20 other foreigners held captive on remote islands, with troops and police vowing yesterday to hunt down the extremists.
The man's head was found Monday dumped outside city hall on Jolo, a mountainous and jungle-clad island in the far south of the Philippines that is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Islamist group.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Filipino authorities identified the victim as John Ridsdel, a retiree in his late 60s who was kidnapped seven months ago from aboard a yacht, along with another Canadian man, a Norwegian and a Filipina woman.
"This was an act of cold-blooded murder and responsibility rests with the terrorist group who took him hostage," Trudeau said in Ottawa.
The four were abducted at a marina near the major city of Davao as part of a wave of abductions by the Abu Sayyaf -- a loose network of militants.
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