The Canadian government is remaining close-lipped about efforts to free a former Yorkton resident being held hostage by terrorists in the Philippines.
John Ridsdel is one of four hostages taken by Filipino terrorist group Abu Sayyaf in September 2015.
On April 15, the group released a new video demanding $8.3 million for the release of Ridsdel, another Canadian, Robert Hall, a Norwegian man and a Filipino woman. In the video, the third since the kidnapping, Ridsdel is shown with a machete to his neck.
Following the posting of the demand on social media, the federal government said in a statement it will not comment so as not to compromise ongoing efforts to secure the hostages’ freedom.
Canada’s official policy is not to negotiate with hostage-takers, but leaked government documents have shown the government does on occasion not only negotiate, but pay ransom. In 2013, the Canadian government paid $1.1 million to al-Qaeda for the release of diplomats Robert Fowler and Louis Guay.
CBC Saskatchewan reported Monday that a Saskatoon man, Don Kossick, a friend of Ridsdel has started a campaign to put pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephan Dion and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to do whatever it takes to free the hostages.
The Philippines has a hard and fast no-negotiation policy and says it is closing in on the band holding Ridsdel and the others.
Abu Sayyaf is a homegrown Filipino militant group that has been operating around the Jolo and Basilian islands in the southwestern Philippines since the early 1990s. In 2014, the group pledged allegiance to ISIL and started kidnapping foreigners for ransom.
They have threatened to kill Ridsdel and the others if ransom is not paid within 30 days.
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