A Norwegian man held captive for nearly a year by a militant Islamist group in the Philippines was freed Saturday, according to CNN Philippines and the state-run Philippines News Agency (PNA).
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A radical Muslim bandit group released on Saturday a Norwegian man they took hostage nearly a year ago, a spokesman for the Philippine military said.
MNLF on Sunday said three Indonesian nationals were also freed by the Abu Sayyaf and were already with Misuari in Indanan town.
Brende said he had been told that Sekkingstand was now in a “relatively safe place” and that he would “probably be turned over to the Philippines’ authorities on Sunday”.
Abu Sayyaf is notorious for taking hostages and threatening to behead them for ransom.
On Saturday, the Abu Sayyaf released Sekkingstad, whom they abducted from a high-end tourist resort he was managing in September 2015.
Abu Sayyaf beheaded Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall in April and June a year ago, after a deadline for ransom money lapsed.
Sekkingstad was taken hostage along with two Canadians and a Filipino woman from the resort island of Samal.
The Abu Sayyaf handed the Norwegian over to another Muslim rebel leader, Nur Misuari, whose group assisted in the release. Filipino Marites Flor was released in June. Norway Ambassador Erik Forner reportedly flew to Davao in anticipation of Sekkingstad’s release. “They know some of the people from the Abu Sayyaf, and they have their own ways of dealing with the Abu Sayyaf”, Dela Cruz said.
DAVAO CITY- Freed Abu Sayaff hostage Kjartan Sekkingstad met with President Rodrigo Duterte last Sunday night (Sept. 18) at the Matina Enclaves in Davao City.
He was freed in Patikul town in Sulu province on Saturday and was eventually secured by rebels from the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which has signed a peace deal with the government and helped negotiate his release, officials said.
Amid the offensive against them, the Abu Sayyaf had freed three Indonesian nationals who were taken from a Malaysian fishing vessel near the east coast Lahad Datu district on July 9.
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the hostages were in good condition but needed to be rescued. Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said he would not rule out a third party, such as Sekkingstad’s family, paying a ransom. In 2016, the group beheaded two Canadians after the Canadian government refused to pay the ransom demanded for them.
The Abu Sayyaf is a loose network of a militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network. The group mainly relies on kidnapping for its finances and many say its ideological and religious claims are meant to hide its focus on the lucrative business.
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The group, which is blamed for the worst terror attacks in Philippine history and is listed by the United States as a terrorist organization, has been the target of a military operation since August.
