DAVAO CITY, Philippines— A high ranking Philippines government official on Monday slammed the “barbaric beheading” of Juergen Gustav Kantner in Sulu, a German captive of the Abu Sayyaf group.
“We grieve as we strongly condemn the barbaric beheading of yet another kidnap victim, German Juergen Gustav Kantner in Sulu,” Presidential Adviser on the Philippine Peace Process, Jesus Dureza said in a statement.
“Terrorism has no place in a country like ours and we as a people must confront violent extremism every time it rears its ugly head,” he added.
Dureza said that the Armed Forces of the Philippines exhausted all efforts to save his life. “We all tried our best. But to no avail.”
The Islamic State-linked bandit group has released a video of Kantner while being killed. The video was reported by the SITE, a militancy-monitoring group.
Kantner was killed after the deadline for a $600,000 ransom or equivalent to P30 million expired last Sunday. Dureza, meanwhile, did not confirm if there’s a ransom being asked.
It can be recalled that he was abducted from his yacht, the Rockall, off near Sabah and was brought to Laparan Island in Sulu province in November. Kantner’s companion Sabine Merz was found dead on the boat.
“Another precious life had been needlessly lost. There must be a stop to this killing of the innocent and the helpless,” Dureza said.
“I was always in close contact with German authorities in our efforts. We condole with his family, friends and loved ones,” he added. (davaotoday.com)
