James Foley

2022 - 4 - 12

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Image courtesy of "The Washington Post"

A harrowing account of life and death in ISIS captivity (The Washington Post)

Hostages have offered searing testimony about their struggle to survive in the only U.S. trial for a member of an infamous terror cell known as “the Beatles ...

She said she and Mueller were trapped together, beaten and forced to watch the video of Foley’s death. It was their compulsion to help the most desperate people in the world that had led to their captivity. It was not a message for her but for the U.S. government. When the Spanish journalist Marcos Marginedas was let go in March, he testified, one of the Beatles told Foley, “Touch Marc, because that’s the closest you’re going to be to freedom in your life.” The cost was “more than we could earn in several lifetimes,” Mueller’s parents wrote the kidnappers. But beyond the physical pain, Francois testified, “They would always try to break your mind.” “Don’t worry, it’s just a mistake,” Safarjalani whispered to Mueller from under the blanket covering his face, he testified. George was the leader; Ringo and John were “the henchmen.” Prosecutors say Elsheikh was Ringo, which he denies. Mueller, about to turn 25, had volunteered across the globe after quitting college early “to get out and start helping people,” as her mother, Marsha Mueller, testified. In less than two, the colleague called his parents with news: “The bad guys got him.” John Cantlie, a British photographer who was kidnapped with Foley, suggested the names Ringo, John and George as a way for the hostages to discuss their tormentors. Captives dubbed them “the Beatles.”

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Image courtesy of "Daily Mail"

ISIS hostage tells court he tried to kill himself while in captivity (Daily Mail)

Danish photographer, Daniel Rye Ottosen became the 12th freed hostage to take the stand at alleged British jihadist El Shafee Elsheikh's trial Tuesday in ...

He was extradited last year and was charged with a number of terror offenses. He had been taken from the cell earlier and told he was being released. I remember I lost consciousness and that was some kind of relief. I remember I lost consciousness and that was some kind of relief,' Ottosen told the court The fourth suspected 'Beatle', Aine Davis, is pictured in 2014. He pleaded guilty in September 2021 and was sentnced to life in prison, 15 years of which would be spent in the United States and then he would be transferred to the United Kingdom. I don't know if that was my soul.' In opening arguments, they acknowledged he was an IS jihadist but insisted he was not one of the 'Beatles' and it was a case of 'mistaken identity.' Asked to recall the worst torture he had been forced to endure Ottosen told of a time when, deprived of water for days he was strung up in a room, his hands tied above his head and simply left there. Authorities sent footage of Foley's beheading to Ottosen because he had been the last person to see the American journalist alive and was asked to identify him He was taken to a place he knew only as 'The Basement Room' then 'The Farmhouse,' and from there he was moved to 'The Torture Center' a place where the treatment was so bad he attempted suicide. The footage was sent to him by authorities because he had been the last person to see Foley alive and had been asked to identify him.

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