"I've been involved behind the scenes for the last six months trying to find a solution and it's been very painful."

4.26.2016 Mark Tapson

Canadian man kidnapped last September by Islamic militants and held captive for months in the Philippines has been beheaded.

The BBC reports that former mining executive John Ridsdel, 68, was taken from a tourist resort along with three others by the radical Abu Sayyaf group.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced the savagery as "an act of cold-blooded murder." This is the same Kumbiyah-preaching Prime Minister who believes that "if you kill your enemies, they win"; so by his reasoning, Ridsdel and Canada have beaten Abu Sayyef.

Ridsdel was kidnapped along with Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and another Canadian, Robert Hall, as well as Hall's Philippine girlfriend Marites Flor. Abu Sayyaf released a video of the captives in November, demanding $80 million for their release. Ridsdel, the middle male captive in the photo above, later warned that he was due to be killed on April 25 if no ransom was paid.

Mere hours after the deadline, Ridsdel's severed head was found on the street.

"It's hard," a friend of Mr Ridsdel, Bob Rae, told CBC News. "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."

Abu Sayyaf was set up in the 1990s and received funding from al-Qaeda, the BBC noted. It is fighting for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines, and several of its factions have declared their allegiance to the Islamic State.

Trudeau did not offer many details, saying he did not want to compromise the safety of the other captives.

Canadian Hostage Beheaded by Islamic Militants in Philippines