Phillipines: Islamists threaten to execute German hostage on Friday if ransom not paid

Ransom deadline nears for German hostages in Philippines

A German hostage in the Philippines says Islamists have threatened to execute him on Friday if his ransom of over 4 million euros isn’t paid. The man was captured with his wife in the western Pacific in April. Stefan Okonek, aged 74, told a local radio station on Wednesday that his captors had pushed him into a hole in the jungle on Jolo Island, 1,000 kilometers south of Manila, ahead of a Friday deadline for his ransom payment.

“I am sitting here in a hole, a deep hole,” the doctor told DXRZ, a radio station in nearby Zamboanga City. “They told me this is my grave. They pushed me inside this hole and I am sitting here with 10 men since last night, ” Okonek said, referring to guards watching over him. Read Article