Islamic State publishes 'ransom posters' for Norwegian and Chinese hostages

Men and boys from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) marching through the Syrian city of Raqqa last year Photo: AP

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have published macabre posters advertising ransoms for a Norwegian and a Chinese prisoner.


The announcements came at the end of the eleventh edition of Dabiq, an online English-language magazine released by Isil’s media arm.
The Norwegian man was identified as Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, 48, from Oslo. The Chinese man was named as Fan Jinghui, 50, a freelance consultant from Beijing.


In what it describes as a “limited time offer”, the group printed photographs of the men dressed in yellow jumpsuits alongside an Iraqi phone number.


It did not say how much money was being demanded, nor when the opportunity to pay it would expire.


    Islamic State fighters Photo: PA

Norweigan prime minister Erna Solberg said on Wednesday that Mr Grimsgaard-Ofstad was connected with a university in Trondheim, and that he had been abducted shortly after arriving in Syria in January.

“The kidnappers have put forward a series of demands for significant ransom amounts,” she said at a press conference. “Our goal is to bring our citizen home. But let me be clear: this is a very challenging case.”

Chinese officials are yet to comment on the allegations that Mr Jinghui is also in Isil custody.

The extremist group has raised millions of pounds through the kidnap and ransom of hostages. In cases where a national government will not pay - as is the British and American policy - Isil has executed captives for the camera.

The new issue of Dabiq also featured photographs that appeared to show the destruction of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, a UN-protected heritage site which the militants have been destroying piece-by-piece since July.

Isil seized Palmyra’s ancient ruins and a nearby modern city of the same name in May, cutting Syrian army supply lines to Deir Ezzor, an eastern province controlled mostly by the jihadist group.

The extremists have ruled the area with an iron fist, first repurposing ruins as a stage for brutal executions, and now embarking upon a campaign of cultural destruction.

Images printed in Dabiq showed militants lining the Temple of Bel, one of Palmyra’s most famous structures, with explosive-filled barrels, and then detonating them.