MANILA, June 13 (UPI) — Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf on Monday said it beheaded Robert Hall, a Canadian held hostage since September.
Abu Raami, spokesman for the group, confirmed Hall’s death, as did several local news outlets on the Philippines’ Jolo island, where Abu Sayyaf is based.
The announcement came after a deadline passed for payment of a $13 million ransom for Hall, Norwegian Kjarten Sekkingstad and Filipina Marites Flor. The three were abducted from a Philippines resort in September with Canadian John Ridsdel,who was killed by the group in April.
Abu Sayyaf is a small but active group with a record of extortion, bombings and kidnappings in the southern part of the Philippines. It emerged in the 1990s during a separatist rebellion by Muslims in the predominately Catholic country, and is officially regarded by Western countries as a terrorist organization.
The group has pledged its allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State terror group.
