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Tag: james foley
British Hostage Seized By Islamic State With Foley Appears In New Video

British Hostage Seized By Islamic State With Foley Appears In New Video

By Mark Seibel, McClatchy Washington Bureau

A British photographer whose kidnapping in Syria has been subject to a media blackout for nearly two years has appeared in an Islamic State video that was posted on the Internet Thursday.

John Cantlie, who people close to the case have long known was with American James Foley in northern Syria when both were seized by radical Islamist extremists, confirmed that he had been kidnapped in November 2012. Foley disappeared on Thanksgiving Day that year.

It was the second time Cantlie had been kidnapped in Syria. The first time had come four months earlier, when he and a Dutch photographer were seized by jihadists in a case that for the first time revealed the presence of radical foreign fighters inside Syria.

Cantlie and the Dutch photographer, Jeroen Oerlemans, who were held for a week before they were freed, said their kidnappers included many native English-speakers, whom Oerlemans described as having accents from Birmingham, a city in England.

British authorities even filed criminal charges against one man, a British physician, whom Cantlie identified as having been among his abductors. But the case was dismissed last year, with British prosecutors explaining only that Cantlie was “unavailable” to testify.

That was because Cantlie had been seized again, this time with Foley.

In the 3-minute and 21-second video, Cantlie, who is the only figure visible, appears seated at a desk, dressed in an orange jumpsuit similar to those worn by Foley, American journalist Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker David Haines when they were beheaded by an English-speaking executioner.

Cantlie says nothing about the Foley kidnapping or why he had gone back into Syria so soon after having been released from his previous abduction; fellow journalists have speculated he was trying to track down his original kidnappers.

He also does not say explicitly that he has been threatened with death. He acknowledges, however, that he is a prisoner, felt abandoned by his government, and that he had nothing to lose by making the video.

He also says there will be others — he called them “the next few programs” — in which he said he would “show you the truth as the Western media tries to drag you back into another war with the Islamic State.”

“I’m going to show you the truth behind the systems and motivations of the Islamic State and how the Western media, the very organization I used to work for, can twist and manipulate that truth to the public back home,” he says. “There are two sides to every story.”

He promised also to explain how the British and U.S. governments had refused to negotiate with the Islamic State for the release of their citizens, while other European governments paid ransoms and saw their captives go free.

“I think you may be surprised by what you learn,” he concludes, without saying when the next video might be posted.

Cantlie’s whereabouts have been a mystery since Foley’s execution video was posted Aug. 19, with many wondering why he was not among the British hostages threatened with death. The Islamic State has threatened to execute a fourth hostage, British aid worker Alan Henning.

AFP Photo/Jm Lopez

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Foley’s Mother Felt Like ‘Annoyance’ To U.S. Government

Foley’s Mother Felt Like ‘Annoyance’ To U.S. Government

Washington (AFP) — The mother of executed U.S. reporter James Foley said she felt her son’s case was an “annoyance” to the U.S. government.

In an interview aired Thursday with CNN, Diane Foley said her family was warned it could be charged if it tried to raise ransom money to free their son.

The family was also told no prisoners would be exchanged for Foley, nor would the government take military action, the mother said. The family was told not to go to the media and “trust that it would be taken care of.”

“As an American I was embarrassed and appalled,” Foley said.

“I think our efforts to get Jim freed were an annoyance” to the U.S. government, she added. “It didn’t seem to be in our strategic interest, if you will.”

The 40-year-old freelance reporter’s death was revealed August 19 in a video released by Islamic State militants, in which he is seen being beheaded.

IS said his killing was in response to U.S. air strikes against it. A week later it released another video showing the beheading of another American journalist, Steven Sotloff.

Foley had covered wars in Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria and contributed to GlobalPost, Agence France-Presse, and other outlets. He was seized by armed men in northern Syria in 2012.

“Jim would have been saddened. Jim believed to the end that his country would come to their aid,” Foley said.

“We were just told to trust that he would be freed somehow, miraculously,” Foley’s mother said. “And he wasn’t, was he?”

AFP Photo/Dominick Reuter

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Sen. Mark Udall Apologizes For Invoking Slain U.S. Journalists

Sen. Mark Udall Apologizes For Invoking Slain U.S. Journalists

By Kurtis Lee, Los Angeles Times

Sen. Mark Udall (D-C0) on Monday apologized for invoking the names of two American journalists who were recently beheaded by Islamic State militants as he argued in a debate over the weekend.

“Steve Sotloff and James Foley would tell us, don’t be impulsive,” Udall said Saturday at a town-hall-style debate against Republican Rep. Cory Gardner in Grand Junction, Colo. “Horrible and barbarous as those executions were, don’t be impulsive, come up with a plan to knock ISIL back.” ISIL is a former abbreviation of the militant group.

Udall, who is vying for a second term and faces a formidable challenge from Gardner in a one of the country’s most competitive Senate midterm contests, got blowback for the comments when video of the debate surfaced Monday.

Gardner, who didn’t call out Udall on the comments at the debate, joined a chorus of Republicans on Monday who castigated the senior senator, saying his statements were “deeply troubling.”

“Americans have watched in horror in recent weeks as two of our fellow countrymen have been brutally executed by terrorists, and it’s outrageous that Sen. Udall would put words into the mouths of dead Americans,” Gardner said in a statement.

Sotloff and Foley were killed in recent weeks by Islamic State militants. Since early August the United States has conducted more than 140 airstrikes on militant targets in Iraq. President Barack Obama is set to address the nation Wednesday to outline a broader offensive against Islamic State militants.

Udall, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Monday in an apology statement that his intent was to “emphasize the importance of taking the right next steps as we confront this serious threat.”

“When addressing ISIL during this weekend’s debate, I should not have invoked the names of James Foley and Steven Sotloff. It was inappropriate and I sincerely apologize,” Udall said. “It is critically important for the United States, our allies and countries in the region to beat back ISIL. These terrorists are a serious threat to U.S. interests and allies in the Middle East, and Americans are counting on their leaders to get this right.”

A recent Marist survey gave Udall a 48 percent to 42 percent lead over Gardner with less than two months until Election Day. Other nonpartisan polls released since July have shown Udall with slight advantages over Gardner.

Photo: Mark Udall via Flickr

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IS ‘Waterboarded’ Syria Captives: Report

IS ‘Waterboarded’ Syria Captives: Report

Washington (AFP) — At least four Western hostages held by the Islamic State in Syria, including murdered American journalist James Foley, were waterboarded in the early part of their captivity, The Washington Post said Thursday.

Foley, whose recent execution at the hands of the extremists provoked revulsion, and the other kidnapped Westerners, were waterboarded “several times,” the newspaper said, citing people familiar with their treatment.

Sources involved in trying to free the hostages have confirmed to AFP that waterboarding was used on at least one hostage.

Waterboarding, which was used by the CIA during interrogations of suspected terrorists after the September 11, 2001 attacks, is a widely condemned form of torture that simulates drowning.

The Post quoted one person with direct knowledge of what happened to the hostages as saying the Islamists, who last week released a grisly video showing Foley’s beheading, “knew exactly how it was done.”

The captives, including Foley who was kidnapped in northern Syria in November 2012, were held in Raqa — the heartland of the “caliphate” IS has declared — the Post said.

It quoted a second person familiar with Foley’s time in captivity as saying that the American, who contributed reports to GlobalPost, Agence France-Presse, and other media outlets, was tortured, including by waterboarding.

The black-masked militant seen in the video holding Foley, 40, by the scruff of the neck, said the journalist’s killing was to avenge American airstrikes against the IS in Iraq.

AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary

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