The Islamic State said
Wednesday it has killed Norwegian and Chinese captives after
earlier demanding ransoms for the two men, the Associated Pres
reported.
The extremist group published two images of the men in the
second-to-last page of its glossy English-language magazine,
saying they had been "executed after being abandoned by kafir
nations and organizations." "Kafir" is the Arabic word for
infidel. In the images, the men both appeared to have been
shot to death.
There was no immediate reaction in Beijing to the
announcement, nor from the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The Norwegian prime minister's office could not confirm the
death. Its spokeswoman Trude Maseide told the Norwegian news
agency NTB that there are "published photos that indicate that
the hostage Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad has been executed. We
are trying to get it verified and will come back with further
information."
Grimsgaard-Ofstad has previously been identified as a
48-year-old graduate student in political philosophy from
Porsgrunn, south of Oslo.
The Chinese man had been identified as Fan Jinghui, 50, a
self-described "wanderer" from Beijing who once taught middle
school.
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