Islamists behead Canadian hostage in Philippines

The militants are reportedly holding more than 20 hostages on remote islands

Islamic militants in the Philippines have beheaded a Canadian hostage, sparking fears for more than 20 others they are holding on remote islands, with security forces vowing today to hunt down the extremists.

The man's head was found yesterday dumped outside city hall on Jolo, a mountainous and jungle-clad island in the far south of the Philippines that is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Islamist group.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Filipino authorities identified the victim as John Ridsdel, a retiree in his late 60s who was kidnapped seven months ago from aboard a yacht, along with another Canadian man, a Norwegian and a Filipina woman.

"This was an act of cold-blooded murder and responsibility rests with the terrorist group who took him hostage," Trudeau said in Ottawa.

The four were abducted at a marina near the major city of Davao, more than 500 kilometres from Jolo, as part of a wave of abductions by the Abu Sayyaf, a loose network of militants who for more than two decades have run a lucrative kidnapping- for-ransom business.

The other three were fellow Canadian Robert Hall, Hall's girlfriend Marites Flor, and Norwegian resort manager Kjartan Sekkingstad.

Six weeks after the abduction, gunmen released a video of their hostages held in a jungle setting, demanding the equivalent of $21 million each for the safe release of the three foreigners.

The men were forced to beg for their lives on camera, and similar videos posted over several months showed the hostages looking increasingly frail.

In the most recent video, Ridsdel said his captors would kill him on April 25 if a ransom of $6.4 million was not paid.

Hours after the deadline passed, police in the Philippines said two people on a motorbike dropped the head near city hall on Jolo, which is about 1,000 kilometres from Manila.

Ridsdel, a former journalist, oil executive and sailing enthusiast, had moved to the Philippines to manage a gold mine prior to retiring.

Trudeau said Canada was working with the Philippines to pursue and prosecute the killers, and that efforts were under way to obtain the release of the other hostages.

In the Philippines, security forces said they were setting up checkpoints across Jolo in an effort to block the movements of the gunmen.

"There will be no let up in the determined efforts of the joint task group's intensive military and law enforcement operations to neutralise these lawless elements," said a statement released today by the national police and military forces.

However, Philippine security forces have made similar statements many times against the Abu Sayyaf and often failed to achieve their objectives.