Duterte apologises for beheading of German

The President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte has apologised for not being able to save the life of an elderly German man who was held hostage and beheaded by the armed Abu Sayyaf group.

Duterte said it was unfortunate that he could not save the life of the man identified as Jurgen Gustav Kantner, 70, who was kidnapped and beheaded by Abu Sayyaf – a kidnap-for-ransom network in the southern Philippines that has declared allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group after demands for $600,000 were not met.

While addressing the German government and Kantner’s family, Duterte said he was “very sorry” about his death, adding that the military had stepped up an offensive against Abu Sayyaf in an effort to save him.

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“We really tried our best. We have been there. The military operation has been going on for some time already, but we have failed. That has to be admitted,” Duterte told reporters.

Continuing, he added that; “But it’s a matter of policy that we do not surrender to the demands of paying ransom. It will just increase the numbers,” he said, referring to the size of the group. “If you give in and pay, there will be more victims and no end in sight.”

Over the years, Abu Sayyaf has been kidnapping foreigners and locals for decades, holding them for ransom on its remote island strongholds in the southern part of the Philippines.

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