Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak condemned the beheading as a savage and barbaric act, AFP reported.
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Malaysian hostage Bernard Then was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf terror group on Jolo Island in southern Philippines.
“We condemn it in its strongest terms”, Najib said in a statement posted on Facebook Wednesday.
Then, 39, an electrical engineer from Sarawak, and restaurant owner Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, were kidnapped from a restaurant in Sandakan on May 14.
Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the safe release of Thien was a result of successful negotiations between Malaysian authorities and her captors.
The Philippines military claimed a breakdown in the negotiations led to Then’s execution.
Initial reports said that Bernard Then was shot by the militants because he was slowing down their escape from a military advance due to his injuries.
Padilla denied there was any link to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum being held in Manila and attended by top world leaders including US President Barack Obama.
The source said that Then was immediately buried in the area where he was decapitated.
Then was abducted from Malaysia’s Sabah state, across from the southern Philippines, in May.
Many analysts believe the Abu Sayyaf has little in common with the Islamic State group ideologically, and may have merely been seeking to associate itself with the radical extremist movement’s rising profile.
The hostage was beheaded directly after the bombardment started and “the Abu Sayyaf hastily dispersed during the shelling”, he added.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf – armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles – has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.
Ted Fen was the second kidnapped victim beheaded recently due to failure to comply with ransom demand.
The militants are also believed to be holding captive two Canadians, a Norwegian, a Filipina, a Dutch man and an Italian priest in the jungles of Jolo. In 2000, 21 tourists, mostly Europeans, were snatched from the Sipadan diving resort in Sabah.
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“The family failed to comply with the demand of the ASG based in Indanan which prompted them to execute their plan of beheading Ted Fen”, said Arrojado.
