Mum mourns US journalist beheaded by militants
The mother of US journalist James Foley, who was beheaded by Islamic militants, said on Tuesday her son gave his life to expose the suffering of the Syrian people and she asked his kidnappers to release their other captives.
“He was an extraordinary son, brother, journalist and person,” Diane Foley said in a post on a website set up by the Foley family.
James Foley was abducted in Syria in November 2012 while reporting on the conflict there for GlobalPost.
A video released on Tuesday by Islamic State, an al-Qaeda offshoot that has overrun large swathes of northern Iraq and Syria, showed Foley being beheaded.
Another journalist's life in danger
The Sunni militants also threatened to kill another US journalist, Steven Sotloff, who went missing in Syria in July 2013, unless the United States stops its airstrikes against the group.
“We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world,” Diane Foley said in the statement.
“We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people,” she said.
On Twitter, hundreds of users urged the public to neither watch nor share the video.
“All distributing James Foley lifeless body accomplishes is helping ISIS promote itself, helping them spread their terror beyond Iraq,” Washington-based foreign policy expert Joshua Foust tweeted.
Source: Reuters
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