Trudeau seeks justice for 2 Canadians killed

MANILA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday disclosed he asked the Philippine government to accord justice to the two Canadian nationalsabductedandlaterbeheaded by the Daesh-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorists in 2016.

Trudeau told a press conference he discussed the issue of beheading with Philippine president Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte on the sidelines of the ongoing summit of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) hosted by Manila.

Trudeau was referring to Canadian nationals John Ridsdel beheaded by his Abu Sayyaf abductors in April 2016 and later of Robert Hall in June of that same year.

According to Trudeau, he was informed that that the Abu Sayyaf killers were slain by the military in its operations on the island province of Sulu in Mindanao wheretheterroristsoperatewithimpunity.

“But we continue,” the Canadian leader said, “to work with the Philippines so that everyone associated with that is brought to justice.” In the same meeting, Trudeau said he also discussed with Duterte steps to be taken in reducing kidnap-for-ransom cases by the Abu Sayyaf which have often been marred by the beheading of their foreign and Filipino hostages.

At the same time, he assured that Canada would continue to be part of global efforts to ight terrorism.

Trudeau stressed: “We continue to look for ways to be more effective (in ighting terrorism) and provide a better support to families who are in this tragic and horriic circumstances.”

The military earlier conirmed that the Abu Sayyaf joined another Daeshlinked group called the Maute Group in laying siege on Marawi, the capital city of Lanao del Sur province in Mindanao on May 23.

The military also reported that before Marawi’s “liberation” on Oct.23, government forces killed Isnilon Hapilon, the Abu Sayyaf leader who was appointed by the Daesh leaders as the “emir” with orders to set up a caliphate in the city and make it as its centre for its expanded operations in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres appealed to Myanmar authorities to allow the estimated 600,000 Rohingyas who sought refuge in Bangladesh to return to Myanmar, warning the issue, if unresolved, could be a potential source of regional “instability” and “radicalisation.”