The Philippine army has stated that a severed head was found on a remote Philippine island on Monday five hours after the expiry of a ransom deadline but his death was later confirmed by Canadian government officials and the army would not immediately comment on whether the head was that of Mr Ridsdel.
The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has condemned the killing and he has described it as an act of "cold-blooded murder" and has stated that the Canadian government will work with the government of the Philippines to pursue those responsible for this "heinous act.
Earlier Mr Ridsdel from Calgary Alberta was kidnapped in September last year alongside Canadian national Robert Hall, as well as a Norwegian man and a Filipina woman and they were all taken from an upscale resort on the southern Samal Island.
Abu Sayyaf a small but notoriously brutal militant group is presently holding a number of other foreign hostages including one from the Netherlands, one from Japan, four Malaysians and 14 Indonesian tugboat crew and it is known for its campaign of beheading, kidnapping, bombing and extortion in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.
