Canadian hostage killed by ISIS affiliated group in the Philippines
John Ridsdel was kidnapped from a tourist resort along with three other people by the Abu Sayyaf group last September
A CANADIAN man held hostage by ISIS affiliated Islamic extremists for months in the Philippines has been murdered.
John Ridsdel was kidnapped from a tourist resort along with three other people by the Abu Sayyaf group in September last year.
The jihadi group pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2014 and have adopted the groups black and white flag as their standard.
Confirming the 68-year-old's death, Canadian president Justin Trudeau branded the slaying "an act of cold-blooded murder".
He said: "I am outraged by the news that a Canadian citizen, John Ridsdel, held hostage in the Philippines since Sept. 21, 2015, has been killed at the hands of his captors.
"This was an act of cold-blooded murder, and responsibility rests squarely with the terrorist group who took him hostage."
A severed head was discovered on a remote island in the south east Asian country hours after the ransom deadline had passed.
Abu Sayyaf had demanded millions of dollars for the safe release of each hostage.
John Was kidnapped along with fellow countryman Robert Hall; a Norwegian, Kjartan Sekkingstad; and a Filipino woman, Mr Hall's girlfriend, Marites Flor.
All had appeared in a troubling video begging for their release.
John's friend, former Canadian MP Bob Rae said: "It's hard. It's just very hard. I've been involved behind the scenes for the last six months trying to find a solution and it's been very painful.
"Whether things could have been done differently, it's too soon for that to be said. Certainly the family did everything they could to try to reach a solution."
The pals friendship dates back to their university days in the 1960s.
The kidnappers reportedly demanded 300 million pesos (£4.4 million) for each of he foreign hostages after gunman seized them from a marina on the southern island of Samal.
Canadian media described John as a semi-retired former mining executive who also worked as a journalist.
Abu Sayyaf was set up with funding from al-Qaeda in the 1990s and want to establish and independent Islamic province within the Philippines.