Philippine Islamists group threatens to behead German doctor

A Philippine Muslim rebel group has extended its deadline for the beheading of a German hostage by two hours.
Abu Sayyaf, which has expressed allegiance with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, told a Philippine radio station that they will kill Stefan Okonek, 71, at 5pm local time unless their ransom demands of $5.6 million were met. They also demanded that Germany stop supporting US-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State. The German doctor and his partner, Henrite Dielen, were arrested by the rebels in April when their yacht broke down near the southern island of Palawan. They are being held on Jolo island in the south of the Philippines.
A video released on Wednesday showed Okonek being held in a hole in the ground which he told would be his grave if the ransom wasn’t paid.

"They told me on Friday they will kill me," the doctor said in a radio interview. "I'm here in a hole. It's a big hole, three metres by five metres. They told me this is my grave. They push me inside the hole. I hope I will still get out from here ... but I have not seen anyone from the government to get into the situation that tries to get us out."

The Abu Sayyaf group also sent a video to a radio station on Tuesday that showed a group of men manhandling a handcuffed foreigner who was apparently Okonek. The prisoner in the video was forced to sit on a black flag that appeared to be the flag used by IS.