TORONTO/MANILA, June 13 – Canadian hostage Robert
Hall is believed to have been killed by his captors in the
Philippines, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday, in
what appears to be the second execution of a Canadian hostage by
the militant group Abu Sayyaf in the area in recent months.
Trudeau said Canadian officials were working with
authorities in the Philippines to confirm the death of Hall, who
was taken captive with three other people by the militants in
September 2015 from an upscale resort on Samal island, hundreds
of miles east of Jolo.
Trudeau said in a statement there was "reason to believe"
that Abu Sayyaf had executed Hall. Hours later, he told
reporters that "Canada holds the terrorist group who took Mr.
Hall hostage fully responsible for this cold-blooded and
senseless murder."
The prime minister said the Sunday attack on a gay nightclub
in Orlando and the killing of Hall "serve as devastating
reminders for all of us, the vicious acts of hatred and violence
cannot be tolerated in any form."
Abu Sayyaf, based in the south of the mainly Catholic
country, is known for kidnapping, beheadings and extortion.
It initially demanded 1 billion pesos ($21.67 million)
each for the detainees, but it lowered the ransom to 300 million
pesos each early this year. The group executed Canadian John
Ridsdel, a former mining executive, in April.
A Norwegian man and a Filipino woman are still held captive.
Philippine security forces were checking intelligence
reports that al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants executed Hall on
the remote southern Philippine island of Jolo.
Preliminary intelligence reports said he was beheaded 10
minutes after the 3 p.m. deadline in the mountains outside the
island's Patikul town.
Abu Raami, spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf Group, confirmed the
beheading in a telephone call to a local newspaper, Philippine
Daily Inquirer. The report could not be independently verified.
Wilfredo Cayat, police chief of Jolo island, said officials
were checking reports that said Hall was beheaded in Mount Bunga
by Ben Yadah, a local Islamist militant holding four captives –
three foreigners and a Filipino – since September 2015.
"We don't know if this is true because we know there are
ongoing negotiations for their release," he told reporters.
Security is precarious in the southern Philippines despite a
2014 peace pact between the government and the largest Muslim
rebel group that ended 45 years of conflict.
(Reporting by Allison Martell in Toronto and Manuel Mogato in
Manila; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and W Simon)