The Islamic State group have claimed to be holding a Norwegian man and a Chinese consultant hostage and demanded a ransom for their release.
The poster identifies the Norwegian man as Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, 48, from Oslo, and the Chinese man as Fan Jinhui, 50, a freelance consultant from Beijing.
The poster states: ‘To whom it may concern of the crusaders, pagans and their allies as well as what are referred to as human “rights” organisations.
‘This prisoner was abandoned by his government which did not do its utmost to purchase his freedom.’
It then lists a telegram number for ‘whoever would like to pay the ransom for his release and transfer’, adding: ‘Note, this is a limited time offer.’
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, at a news conference in Oslo on Wednesday, confirmed that one of the hostages was a Norwegian man in his 40s being held in Syria.
She said: ‘Everything indicates that (the Islamic State group) is behind it.’
Solberg said the man was captured at the end of January.
‘The kidnappers have presented a series of demands and significant amounts of ransom money,’ she added.
‘We cannot give in and won’t give in to pressure from terrorists and criminals. Norway does not pay ransom.’
Despite the country’s unwillingness to pay ransom, Solberg said Norwegian authorities are working with various parties in several countries to free the hostage.
‘Our goal is to get our citizen home,’ she said. ‘But let me be very clear, this is a very demanding case.’
