0MANILA: Soldiers have found the body of a German woman on an abandoned yacht in the troubled waters of the southern Philippines and suspect her companion may have been taken captive by Islamist Abu Sayyaf rebels, the military said yesterday.

The body was found naked and with gunshot wounds on the yacht which bore a German flag and was docked on a remote island in the Sulu archipelago, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaeda linked group notorious for kidnapping and increasingly, piracy.

“A shotgun was found near her body,” army spokesman Major Filemon Tan told reporters.

“We are verifying reports a German national … was taken captive by the Abu Sayyaf.”

Tan said an Abu Sayyaf leader, Muamar Askali, had made claims on radio that they were holding a 70-year-old German after intercepting the yacht in Sabah, eastern Malaysia, last week. — AFP </s> MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military is trying to verify a claim by Abu Sayyaf militants that they have kidnapped a German man from a yacht and shot and killed his girlfriend.

Regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan said Monday that Abu Sayyaf spokesman Muamar Askali had claimed the militants kidnapped Juegen Kantner and killed his companion while the couple were cruising off neighboring Malaysia.

Tan says it’s not clear why the woman was killed but it’s possible she may have fought back or tried to escape.

Tan says villagers reported finding a dead woman lying beside a shotgun on board a yacht with the German flag off southern Sulu province, where the militants take their hostages.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> MANILA, Philippines -- A German kidnapped by Somali pirates eight years ago might now be held captive by Islamic militants in the southern Philippines, the country's military said Monday after finding the man's yacht and a woman's body inside.

Abu Sayyaf spokesman Muamar Askali claimed that the militants kidnapped Jurgen Gustav Kantner and killed his female companion while the couple were cruising off neighboring Malaysia's Sabah state, said regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan.

It's not clear why the woman was killed, but it's possible she may have fought back or tried to escape, Tan and another military official said.

Villagers reported finding a dead woman beside a shotgun on board a light blue yacht with the German flag and marked "Rockall," Tan said. The yacht was found off Laparan Island in Sulu province, an area where ransom-seeking militants have held many hostages in jungle camps.

Kantner, 69, and his wife were kidnapped off Somalia on board the Rockall in 2008 and later released by the Somali pirates, Tan said. Authorities did not know whether the woman kidnapped in Somalia was the same woman who was killed in the Philippines.

Troops took custody of the woman's body and the yacht Monday. Both were being examined by police investigators in Tawi-Tawi province near Sulu, the military's Western Mindanao Command said in a statement.

The military said the body was found "naked and had several contusions to the face and was possibly raped."

In Berlin, Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said German authorities were working with their Philippine counterparts to learn what happened.

"We can and will confirm such reports ... only when German consular employees have really established without doubt, with their own eyes and ears or by other means, that they are correct," Schaefer said. "We're not there yet."

Abu Sayyaf, which is blacklisted by the U.S. and the Philippines as a terrorist organization, holds more than a dozen foreign and local hostages.

Abu Sayyaf and allied gunmen have committed many attacks at sea despite efforts by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia to jointly shore up security along their busy sea border. Indonesians and Malaysians have been kidnapped from tugboats and fishing boats in recent months.

Indonesia's Foreign Ministry confirmed receiving information about the separate kidnappings of two Indonesian skippers of vessels off Sabah over the weekend, saying it was in touch with Malaysian and Philippine government officials about the latest abductions.

Indonesia's government has urged Indonesian crewmen in Sabah to avoid sailing in the risky waters until security has improved, the ministry said.

The kidnappings have continued despite a military offensive against Abu Sayyaf, mainly in Sulu and the nearby island province of Basilan, involving more than 6,000 troops, navy gunboats and rocket-firing aircraft.

Without a known foreign source of funds, Abu Sayyaf has survived mostly on ransom kidnappings, extortion and other acts of banditry.

A confidential Philippine government threat assessment report seen by The Associated Press said the militants pocketed at least $7.3 million from ransom kidnappings in the first six months of the year and have turned to abductions of foreign tugboat crewmen as military offensives restrict their mobility.

Anticipating that Abu Sayyaf may soon demand ransom for the German, Tan appealed for people to follow the Philippine government's no-ransom policy.

"If we give in to ransom, a greater damage will be done. They can use the money to buy arms and to feed their bandits, and that will fuel again the tendency for them to kidnap," Tan said. "It becomes a lucrative business."

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office June 30, has ordered troops to destroy Abu Sayyaf and has ruled out the possibility of any peace talks with the group. He has pursued talks with two other, larger Muslim insurgent groups.

The government report said Abu Sayyaf had 481 fighters with 438 firearms in the first half of the year, but the military reported last week that it had killed 70 of the militants and captured 32 others since July in Basilan and Sulu, a predominantly Muslim province about 590 miles south of Manila.

Information for this article was contributed by Geir Moulson of The Associated Press. </s> MANILA: Islamic militants who specialize in kidnappings-for-ransom have reported killing a German sailor and abducting her elderly male companion from their yacht in waters off the southern Philippines, the military said Monday.

A commander from the Abu Sayyaf group, which has earnt many millions of dollars by kidnapping foreigners and beheaded others after ransoms demands were not met, claimed responsibility for the latest incidents, regional military spokesman Filemon Tan told Agence France-Presse.

Tan said the military had recovered the couple’s yacht, and the body of a naked white woman who had been shot was aboard.

He said the military had listened to an audio recording of a known Abu Sayyaf leader claiming responsibility for the raid on the yacht, and the abducted German man also spoke on the phone call.

The abducted man identified himself as Jurgen Kantner, aged 70, and his companion as Sabine, according to Tan.

It appeared the victims were the same as those abducted by Somali pirates off the Gulf of Aden and held hostage for 52 days in 2008.

Agence France-Presse interviewed Kantner and his wife, Sabine Merz, in 2009 about their ordeal when they returned to Somalia to retrieve their boat, named the Rockall.

Despite being subjected to a mock execution during his ordeal, Kantner said the threat of kidnapping would never stop him from sailing.

“My boat is my life and I don’t want to lose her, nothing more. I don’t care about pirates and governments,” Kantner said in the 2009 interview from Berbera, the main port in Somaliland.

The Philippine military released a photo on Monday of the Rockall and said it had a German flag on it.

Tan said the passports of Kantner and Merz were found on the Rockall. He said the photo in Merz’s passport appeared to match the body of the dead woman aboard, although her identity still needed to be confirmed.

The Abu Sayyaf, a loose network of militants based on remote southern islands in the southern Philippines, has defied more than a decade of US-backed military offensives against it and gone a lucrative kidnapping spree in recent years.

In 2014, the militants abducted another German couple off a yacht in the southern Philippines. They released the pair six months later after receiving what they said was the full ransom demand of 250 million pesos ($5.1 million).

Islamic militants are planning to kidnap foreigners in tourist hotspots of the central Philippines, roughly 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the Abu Sayyaf’s bases, the US government warned last week. AFP </s> (CNN) A German man has been beheaded by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines after a deadline to pay his ransom passed.

Philippine and German officials confirmed that 70-year-old Jurgen Kantner had been killed after being held for three months by the Islamist militant group.

It was the second time Kantner, 70, had been abducted. He was held along with his partner, Sabine Merz, by Somali pirates for nearly two months in 2008.

German national Jurgen Kantner and his partner, Sabine Merz, in 2009, months after they were freed by Somali pirates.

Abu Sayyaf posted a gruesome video of its militants killing the man with a curved knife. The video was distributed by the SITE Intelligence Group .

"The Federal Chancellor condemns the abominable act, which once again shows how unscrupulous and inhumane these terrorists are. We all must stand together and fight against them," German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

Philippine Secretary Jesus Dureza, the Presidential Peace Adviser, said the government strongly condemned "the barbaric beheading of yet another kidnap victim."

"Up to the last moment, many sectors, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines, exhausted all efforts to save his life. We all tried our best. But to no avail," he said in a text message to CNN.

The group had demanded 30 million Philippine pesos ($600,000) in exchange for Kantner's release, setting a deadline of February 26.

Abu Sayyaf announced in November last year that they had kidnapped Kantner and his partner in the waters off Malaysia's Sabah state, according to Philippine officials.

Merz was shot and killed by the militants soon after.

In September, Abu Sayyaf freed a Norwegian man it had held captive for almost a year, according to CNN Philippines.

The beheading emerges as the Philippine government wages a war against Abu Sayyaf, based in the restive Muslim-majority province of Mindanao in the country's far south.

Abu Sayyaf is a violent extremist group of some 200 to 400 members that is largely fragmented.

The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, but the south has historically had a large Muslim population. Abu Sayyaf's stated aim is to establish an independent Islamic state on the southern island of Mindanao.

The group first became active in the early 1990s and was responsible for bombings across the southern Philippines and in the Malaysian state of Sabah.

The seas around the Philippines are the most pirated in the world, according to data producer IHS Markit. </s> Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines have claimed responsibility for the beheading of a German national.

Jurgen Gustav Kantner was kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants last November, when he was sailing off neighbouring Malaysia's Sabah state.

A deadline for a ransom lapsed over the weekend, and yesterday a video was released that appeared to show the German hostage being beheaded.

The Philippines' president had promised to neutralise the Abu Sayyaf last year, but this latest incident raises questions about his ability to do so.

Dr Clark Jones is a counter-terrorism expert at the ANU's College of Asia & the Pacific.

He's advised the Philippines' government on how to manage terrorist offenders in the country's prisons. </s> A German man has been beheaded by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines after a deadline to pay his ransom passed, the Philippine government has said.

A video posted by the Philippines-based Islamist extremist group Abu Sayyaf and distributed by SITE Intelligence Group identifies the man as Jurgen Kantner, who has been held captive since November.

It was the second time Kantner, 70, had been abducted. He was held along with his partner, Sabine Merz, by Somali pirates for nearly two months in 2008.

In a text message to CNN, Philippines Secretary Jesus Dureza, the Presidential Peace Adviser, said the government strongly condemned “the barbaric beheading of yet another kidnap victim.”

“Up to the last moment, many sectors, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines, exhausted all efforts to save his life. We all tried our best. But to no avail,” he said.

A German official said the government was still checking the video’s authenticity.

The group had demanded 30 million Philippine pesos ($600,000) in exchange for Kantner’s release, setting a deadline of February 26.

Abu Sayyaf announced in November last year that they had kidnapped Kantner and his partner in the waters off Malaysia’s Sabah state, according to Philippine officials.

Residents of Laparan Island in the southern Philippines Mindanao chain of island discovered a body of a woman soon after, believed to be Merz’s.

In September, Abu Sayyaf freed a Norwegian man it had held captive for almost a year, according to CNN Philippines.

The beheading emerges as the Philippine government wages a war against Abu Sayyaf, based in the restive Muslim-majority province of Mindanao in the country’s far south.

Abu Sayyaf is a violent extremist group of some 200 to 400 members that is largely fragmented.

The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, but the south has historically had a large Muslim population. Abu Sayyaf’s stated aim is to establish an independent Islamic state on the southern island of Mindanao.

The group first became active in the early 1990s and was responsible for bombings across the southern Philippines and in the Malaysian state of Sabah.

The seas around the Philippines are the most pirated in the world, according to data producer IHS Markit. </s> MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military is verifying a claim by Abu Sayyaf militants that they have kidnapped a German man from a yacht and shot and killed his female companion, whose suspected body was found in the abandoned boat in the southern Philippines, officials said Monday.

Regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan said Abu Sayyaf spokesman Muamar Askali had claimed the militants kidnapped Juegen Kantner and killed his companion while the couple were cruising off neighboring Malaysia’s Sabah state.

It’s not clear why the woman was purportedly killed, but it’s possible she may have fought back or tried to escape, Tan and another military official said.

Villagers reported finding a dead woman lying beside a shotgun on board a light blue yacht with the German flag and marked “Rockall” off Laparan Island in Sulu province, Tan said. The southern province is where the ransom-seeking militants hold their hostages in tropical jungle encampments.

Troops took custody of the woman’s body and the yacht Monday. The body and the yacht were being examined by police investigators in Tawi Tawi province, near Sulu, as part of efforts to verify the Abu Sayyaf’s claim, the military’s Western Mindanao Command said in a statement.

“Alarming is that the body found was naked and had several contusions to the face and was possibly raped,” the military said.

If the attack on the couple is confirmed, it would be the latest in a wave of attacks at sea by the Abu Sayyaf and allied gunmen despite efforts by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia to jointly shore up security in their busy sea border, where Indonesians and Malaysians have been kidnapped from tugboats and fishing boats in recent months.

Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed receiving information about the separate kidnappings of two Indonesian skippers of vessels off Sabah over the weekend, saying it was touch with Malaysian and Philippine government officials about the latest kidnappings.

Indonesia’s government has called on Indonesian crewmen in Sabah to avoid sailing in the risky waters until security has improved, the ministry said.

The kidnappings have continued despite one of the largest military offensives against the Abu Sayyaf, mainly in Sulu and the nearby island province of Basilan, involving more than 6,000 troops, navy gunboats and rocket-firing air force aircraft.

Without a known foreign source of funds, the Abu Sayyaf has survived mostly on ransom kidnappings, extortion and other acts of banditry.

A confidential Philippine government threat assessment report seen by The Associated Press said the militants have pocketed at least 353 million pesos ($7.3 million) from ransom kidnappings in the first six months of the year and have turned to abductions of foreign tugboat crewmen as military offensives restricted their mobility.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office on June 30, has ordered troops to destroy the Abu Sayyaf, known for its brutality and ties to some foreign militants, and has ruled out the possibility of any peace talks with them. He has pursued talks with two other larger Muslim insurgent groups.

Duterte intends to discuss with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak possible solutions to end the Abu Sayyaf kidnapping menace in the region when he makes a visit to Malaysia starting on Wednesday.

The government report said the Abu Sayyaf had 481 fighters with 438 firearms in the first half of the year, but the military reported last week that it had killed 70 of the militants and captured 32 others since July in Basilan and Sulu, a Muslim province about 950 kilometers (590 miles) south of Manila.

The Abu Sayyaf, which is blacklisted by the U.S. and the Philippines as a terrorist organization, still holds more than a dozen foreign and local hostages.

Anticipating that the Abu Sayyaf may soon demand the German to be ransomed off, Tan appealed for people to follow the Philippine government’s no-ransom policy.

“If we give in to ransom, a greater damage will be done. They can use the money to buy arms and to feed their bandits and that will fuel again the tendency for them to kidnap,” Tan said. “It becomes a lucrative business.” </s> The Philippine military said Monday it was trying to verify a claim by Abu Sayyaf militants that they had kidnapped a German man from a yacht and shot and killed his wife in the Sulu Sea. Villagers reported finding a dead woman lying beside a shotgun on board a blue yacht with the German flag and marked "Rockall" off Laparan Island in Sulu province, authorities said.

Regional military spokesman Major Filemon Tan said Abu Sayyaf had claimed the militants kidnapped 70-year-old Jürgen Kantner and killed his companion - whom AFP news agency identified as Sabine Merz - while the couple were cruising near Malaysia. Two German passports belonging to the couple were found on board. An audio recording of a known Abu Sayyaf leader claimed responsibility for the raid on the yacht, and the abducted German man also spoke in the recording, Tan said.

The couple had run into trouble before. While sailing on the 53-foot Rockall in the Gulf of Aden, Somali seized them and held them hostage for 52 days in 2008. They were released and described their ordeal - which included a mock execution in a 2009 interview.

"My boat is my life and I don't want to lose her, nothing more. I don't care about pirates and governments," Kantner said in a 2009 interview with the AFP news agency while in Berbera, the main port in Somaliland.

The Abu Sayyaf, a loose network of militants based in remote southern islands in the southern Philippines, has defied more than a decade of US-backed military operations seeking to eradicate it and has turned to lucrative kidnapping sprees in recent years.

The militants 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).

A confidential Filipino government threat assessment report seen by the Associated Press said the militants have made off with at least 353 million pesos ($7.3 million) from ransom kidnappings in the first six months of the year and have turned to abductions of foreign tugboat crews as military offensives restrict their movements. The government report said the Abu Sayyaf had 481 fighters with 438 firearms in the first half of the year but the military reported last week that it had killed 70 of the militants and captured 32 others since July.

jar/kms (AFP, AP)
The armed group Abu Sayyaf kidnaps a German national and murders his female companion off the coast of Mindanao in the Philippines.