CALGARY — John Ridsdel, a Canadian killed by hostage-takers in the Phillipines, was remembered Monday as a brilliant, compassionate man with a talent for friendship.
"He could bridge many communities, many people, many situations and circumstances and environments in a very gentle way," said Gerald Thurston, a lifelong friend of the former mining executive and journalist who grew up with him in Yorkton, Sask.
Ridsdel was one of four tourists — including Canadian Robert Hall, a Norwegian man and a Filipino woman — who were kidnapped last September from a marina resort on southern Samal Island by Abu Sayyaf militants.
The Islamic militants had threatened to kill one of the male hostages if a large ransom was not paid by 3 p.m. Monday local time — 3 a.m. ET. Police said Monday that the head of a Caucasian male was recovered in the southern Philippines and Canadian government officials confirmed the victim was Ridsdel, 68.
Thurston said Ridsdel is survived by two adult daughters from a former marriage. Both went on to achieve PhDs.
Saskatoon resident Don Kossick got to know Ridsdel in the 1970s, when Ridsdel was working in Regina. Kossick led a letter-writing and Facebook campaign calling on the Canadian government to help Ridsdel and Hall.
"He was just a really warm, gracious person with a really nice smile. I remember that very well. He was just really open. We were young in those days, so we talked about a lot things. John was really bright, he was on top of issues, and it was really nice being around him."
Thurston, who for a time shared a house in Calgary with his friend, also recalled Ridsdel's questing, probing intelligence — put to good use during a stint as a reporter for CBC.
"Whenever he chose to apply his stunning mind to anything, you knew it was going to be very well explored — and also brought into eloquent terms that explained it in such ways that it became available to everyone."
We are outraged by the cold-blooded murder of Canadian John Ridsdel at the hands of terrorists. Full statement: https://t.co/2ZKpScKN7F
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) April 25, 2016
Thurston remembers long, penetrating conversations with his friend, who could seemingly speak with insight about anything and was concerned with social justice.
"In terms of taking a stand on something, John was one of those people."
Thurston, a retired theatre professional and educator, said Ridsdel had environmentalist friends and didn't fit any kind of "little slot" of a mining executive.
"He addressed all the concerns of the levels of the (mining) role. He also made certain that all voices that came to him were heard. That was his nature. There wasn't any draw from the holster and blast things out until you get it correct."
Thurston said his friend was marked by the compassion and respect with which he treated those around him.
"The most important thing about John is that he applied what I like to apply: If you can listen as carefully as you speak and speak as carefully as you listen, then that changes a lot of things."
A LOOK AT THE ABU SAYYAF TERROR GROUP IN THE PHILIPPINES
OTTAWA — Abu Sayyaf, the Philippines militant group responsible for killing a Canadian hostage on Monday, sprang up in the early 1990s as an offshoot of another, larger Islamic insurgent group.
The Canadian government, which considers Abu Sayyaf to be a terrorist organization, says its ostensible goal is the establishment of an Islamic state governed by sharia law in the southern portion of the Philippines archipelago.
In practice, though, it primarily uses terrorism for profit: kidnap-for-ransom, guerrilla warfare, mass-casualty bombings, and beheadings are favoured tactics. It claimed responsibility for bombing and sinking a passenger ferry, which killed more than 100 people in February 2004.
Abu Sayyaf is one of a handful of Muslim insurgent groups outside of a peace deal signed by the Philippine government with the main rebel group, the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
That agreement calls for the creation of a more powerful and potentially larger autonomous region for minority Muslims in the south of the largely Roman Catholic country.
Abu Sayyaf — the name means "bearer of the sword" in Arabic — has links to Al Qaida, the Canadian government says.
It is thought the group is relatively small, with about 400 fighters drawn from loosely-affiliated sub-groups, mostly organized along traditional clan and familial lines. Membership fluctuates in response to successful terror operations and pressure from the Philippines military.
The organization is also listed as a terrorist entity by the Philippines, the United States, Australia and Britain, among others.
RANSOM FOR HOSTAGES MAY BE FLEXIBLE MATTER
OTTAWA — The Canadian government publicly says it does not negotiate with terrorists, but the private reality may well be more flexible.
Canadians abroad are not immune to being kidnapped for financial gain or for political or propaganda purposes, says Public Safety Canada's 2014 report on terrorism.
"Ransom money is often used to help fund terrorism-related activities, including recruitment, arms procurement, training camps, terrorist attacks and furthering political agendas."
The report insists the federal government's approach to kidnapping respects firm principles: no policy changes, no prisoner exchanges, no immunity from prosecution and no ransom payments.
Global Affairs Canada's travel advisory website says that if a Canadian abroad is the victim of a hijacking, hostage-taking or kidnapping, Canadian consular officials can "work closely with local authorities to facilitate an early and safe release," and maintain contact with a designated family member to keep them informed.
It does not address the issue of ransom payments.
The Abu Sayyaf militants who murdered Canadian John Ridsdel in the Philippines on Monday had demanded a huge ransom for him and three others kidnapped with him.
An al-Qaida letter obtained by The Associated Press three years ago suggests about $1 million was paid for the release of Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler in Niger in 2009.
Fowler, the highest-ranking United Nations official in the African country, and his colleague Louis Guay, were kidnapped and held for four months before being released.
The news agency did not indicate who provided the $1 million for Fowler and Guay.
In a published memoir, Fowler said he did not know if a ransom was paid.
However, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported the deal — brokered by several Western nations working through African intermediaries — involved a prisoner swap and multimillion-dollar payment.
A leaked U.S. diplomatic cable from February 2010 lent credence to the notion Canada makes payments, quoting Washington's then-ambassador to Mali as saying "it is difficult to level criticism on countries like Mali and Burkina Faso for facilitating negotiations when the countries that pay ransom, like Austria and Canada are given a pass."
Journalist Amanda Lindhout, a native of Red Deer, Alta., and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were seized by young gunmen near strife-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, in August 2008. Both were released on Nov. 25, 2009, after their families paid a ransom.
