Philippines-based terror group Abu Sayyaf has given the German government 12 days to save its citizen Jurgen Kantner, who was abducted by the outfit in November.
Kantner, 71, was abducted and his wife Sabine Merz, 59, shot dead when the Abu Sayyaf men attacked their yacht in Tawi-tawi, the southernmost province of the Philippines, on November 6 last year.
SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based website monitoring jihadist activities, said Tuesday:
“Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf threatened to kill German hostage Jurgen Kantner if German gov fails to pay ransom by Feb 26.”
He last appeared in an Abu Sayyaf video released on January 11.
The website has not mentioned the ransom amount demanded by the terror outfit.
The same group abducted another German couple off a yacht in the southern Philippines in 2014 and released the pair six months later after receiving what they said was the full ransom demand of 250 million pesos (4.6 million euros, $5.1 million).
This is not the first time Kantner fell victim to militant groups. The couple was earlier abducted by Somali pirates from the Gulf of Aden in 2008, and released after 52 days of captivity.
Kantner had told the AFP in an interview in 2009 that he would continue sailing despite threats to their life from sea pirates. "My boat is my life and I don't want to lose her, nothing more. I don't care about pirates and governments," he said.
Abu Sayyaf is the most feared terrorist group in Borneo and their so called “expertise” is in kidnapping and beheading their hostages. It has also pledged loyalty to the Islamic State.
Ransom is their main source of income to conduct their terrorist activities. In addition, they have numerous sympathisers in Sabah and Sarawak to help them identify and kidnap their victims.
Abu Sayyaf has defied more than a decade of US-backed military operations seeking to eradicate it.
Friday, March 28, 2025
