Philippines Isil threat to behead captives

TWO Canadians, a Norwegian and a Filipina held captive for seven months in the southern Philippines could be beheaded today by an Islamic rebel group that operates a ruthless kidnapping and piracy enterprise.

The Abu Sayyaf faction, which pledged allegiance first to al-Qaeda and now Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), has set a deadline of 3pm for ransoms of £4.5 million to be paid for the three Westerners.

In videos chillingly reminiscent of those that have emerged from Syria, the three haggard-looking men plead with their families and governments to pay the money.

One captor presses a machete to their necks, while other armed men stand behind them carrying assault weapons and the distinctive black flag of Isil.

The shocking images and looming deadline have focused fears that Islamic extremists are carving out a safe haven for terrorists to use as a base to strike targets across South-East Asia.

Abu Sayyaf splinter groups have also seized 18 Indonesian and Malaysian sailors in raids on coal tugboats in the past month, as they intensify their attacks in some of the world’s busiest waterways.

The surge in piracy prompted Indonesia’s security chief to warn that the trading route – part of major shipping arteries carrying $40 billion (£27 billion) of cargo a year – could “become a new Somalia”.

Britain and the US last week warned their citizens to treat the Sulu Archipel- ago region as a “no-go zone” because of the “high threat” of kidnappings, piracy and terrorism-related violence.

Abu Sayyaf has its roots in the Islamist insurgency in the Mindanao region of the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, and has focused its operations on lucrative banditry.

The faction has survived the deployment of US special forces “advisers” as part of George W Bush’s “war on terror” and a series of offensives by the poorly equipped Philippine army.

In the latest hostage video, John Risdel, 68, a Philippine-based Canadian businessman, said this was the “final absolute warning” from their hostagetakers.

The group has made similar threats in the past, but released captives after ransoms were reportedly paid.