Philippines: German cruiser kidnapped last November executed – ransom unpaid
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Media outlets and social media have reported that the German cruising yachtsman, Jurgen Kantner, kidnapped November 2016 from his yacht in Sulu in the southwestern Philippines, was decapitated by the Philippines bandit group Abu Sayyaf.
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FEBRUARY 28 2017: Sydney Morning Herald
Manila: The Philippines on Monday condemned the “barbaric beheading” of a German captive by Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf militants, who posted a video of the killing after a deadline for a 30m peso, or around $777, 600, ransom passed.
The video showed a machete-wielding militant behead the elderly German hostage, Jurgen Kantner, who had appealed for help twice in short video messages, saying he would be killed if ransom was not paid.
Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser on the Philippine peace process, said officials had exhausted all efforts to save Mr. Kantner, who was held on the tiny southern island of Jolo, but to no avail.
“We grieve as we strongly condemn the barbaric beheading of yet another kidnap victim,” Mr. Dureza said.
“Terrorism has no place in a country like ours and we as a people must confront violent extremism every time it rears its ugly head. There must be a stop to this killing of the innocent and the helpless.”
He did not mention the demand for ransom.
Mr. Kantner and his companion were taken captive in November while sailing on a yacht near Sabah, eastern Malaysia, and brought to Jolo. His companion was shot dead when she tried to resist the militants.
In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a united international front against terrorism.
“The chancellor condemns this hideous attack that shows, once again, how unprincipled and barbarous terrorist act,” her spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement. “We’ve all got to stand together in the fight against terrorists.”
Last year Abu Sayyaf decapitated two Canadians on Jolo but later freed their two companions, a Filipino woman and a Norwegian. The four had been seized from a tourist resort. The ransom demand for the Canadians was $US6.4 million ($8.3 million) each.
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