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Islamist militants behead Canadian man in Philippines
[Chicago Tribune] A severed head was left Monday on a street in the southern Philippines, authorities said, five hours after a ransom deadline set by Islamist Death Eaters holding Western hostages and others. Canada's prime minister identified the victim as a 68-year-old Canadian.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said John Ridsdel of Calgary, Alberta, was killed in a "cold-blooded murder" by the hard boys. Trudeau said Canada would work with the Philippine government and international partners to bring those responsible to justice. The beheading underscored fears of widening violence by Islamist guerrillas, known as the Abu Sayyaf ...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder... group, as it forges possible allegiances with the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... It also raised fears of other execution-style killings among those held. Abu Sayyaf has taken hostages for decades - and killed captives - as part of a rebellion it has claimed to be waging on behalf of the Muslim minority in Asia's only predominantly Roman Catholic nation. The Philippine government has denounced the Abu Sayyaf group as a terrorist organization that also operates more like a criminal gang, engaging in kidnapping for ransom, extortion and drug trafficking, among other crimes. Posted by: Fred 2016-04-26 |
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