A Norwegian man held hostage by the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Islamist militant group in the southern Philippines since September previous year has been freed.
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Kjartan Sekkingstad was abducted along with three other people, including two Canadians and one Filipino from Samal Island in Davao del Norte in September 2015.
Mr John Ridsdel and Mr Robert Hall, the two Canadians seized with Mr Sekkingstad, were beheaded after a ransom demand of about 300 million pesos (S$8.6 million) was not met. Mr Ridsdel was killed in April and Mr Hall in June.
Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu confirmed that three Indonesians who were kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militant group in Lahad Datu waters in Sabah, Malaysia, have been released.
Solberg insisted the Norwegian authorities had not paid out any ransom money to the guerrilla group itself and had “not contributed to the payment of ransom or made any admissions in this case”.
He added that the government of The Philippines will not negotiate with Abu Sayyaf, unlike with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
MESSAGES of thanks are rolling in for the Philippine government and President Rodrigo Duterte after months of negotiation and weeks of fighting with Abu Sayyaf militants finally paid off last weekend with the release of four hostages – three Indonesians and a Norwegian.
Meeting Mr Duterte later, Mr Sekkingstad, thanked the president and all those who helped obtain his freedom.
On Sunday, he was handed over to Philippine authorities, along with three Indonesian fishermen freed separately by Abu Sayyaf.
To Sekkingstad, Mr. Duterte said: “Your travails in life are over”.
After the militants decapitated Ridsdel, Sekkingstad was threatened by the militants, who repeatedly told him, “You’re next”.
While Duterte has pursued peace talks with Misuari’s group and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, he has ordered the military to destroy the Abu Sayyaf, a smaller but more brutal band that the president says aims to establish an Islamic state or caliphate.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Brig.
“What we do know is that we have been concentrating on the launch of all our operations and all our activities on the ground have been indicative of the increasing pressure felt by these groups”, Padilla said.
Lieutenant General Mayoralgo dela Cruz, chief of Western Mindanao Command, told the Inquirer Sunday night that more hostages were expected to be freed because of the relentless operation in areas with reported presence of Abu Sayyaf.
The Abu Sayyaf is a loose network of militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.
The group is based in remote Muslim-populated southern islands of the mainly Catholic Philippines.
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Following the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Washington worked hard with the Philippine military to stop the group’s activities.
