The mother of a U.S. hostage being held by the Islamic State group released an emotional video appeal to his captors Wednesday. Shirley Sotloff, the mother of 31-year-old freelance journalist Steven J. Sotloff, addressed her plea directly to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group and the self-declared caliph of the Muslim world.
Shirley Sotloff addresses al-Baghdadi as caliph, a title he bestowed on himself a few months ago, and calls on him to exercise his right to show clemency and follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad as previous caliphs did.
'I am sending this message to you, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Quraishi al-Hussaini, the caliph of the Islamic State. I am Shirley Sotloff. My son Steven is in your hands,' she begins.
'You, the caliph, can grant amnesty. I ask you please to release my child,' she continues. 'I ask you to use your authority to spare his life.'
Al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi national who was jailed briefly by U.S. forces in 2004, declared a caliphate this year after his group captured a significant chunk of territory in Iraq. His claim to authority has not been recognized by most Muslims. In addressing al-Baghdadi as caliph, Shirley Sotloff's appeal is almost certainly the first time a non-Muslim has acknowledged his authority, a move that may prove controversial.
In the year since Steven Sotloff vanished in Syria, Shirley Sotloff had asked news organizations to abide by a complete blackout on his disappearance, after being told by the Islamic State group that her son would be killed if she publicized his case. His captors broke their own blackout last week, when they identified Steven Sotloff as the next hostage who would be killed, in a video uploaded to YouTube showing the execution of James Foley, also a freelance journalist, who was captured in Syria and held in the same cell as Sotloff, former hostages say.
In that video, Steven Sotloff is seen kneeling in the same place where Foley was decapitated ... as a masked man threatens to kill him next if the group's demands are not met, including the halting of U.S. airstrikes against the group.
'As a mother, I ask your justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over,' says Shirley Sotloff, a teacher from Miami.
She explains that she has been studying Islam since his capture, and then challenges the Islamic State group to follow the path of their founder: 'I ask you to use your authority to spare his life and to follow the example set by the Prophet Muhammad, who protected the People of the Book' - she says, a reference to Christians and Jews.
She adds that in her study of Islam she has learned that Islam teaches that 'no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others,' she says. 'Steven has no control over the actions of the U.S. government. He is an innocent journalist.'
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, director of the Center for the Study of Terrorist Radicalization at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, said that al-Baghdadi's claim to the caliph title is recognized by only a minority of Muslims, and Shirley Sotloff's appeal could help boost him in the eyes of others - although he adds he would do the same thing if his child was in their hands.
'Baghdadi has succeeded in exerting his authority in the geographic area he controls in Syria and Iraq but has extremely limited acknowledgment of his authority beyond that,' said Gartenstein-Ross, author of a book on the legacy of Osama bin Laden.
'This presents him with a dilemma: It is acknowledging his authority, and it is also challenging him on religious grounds,' Gartenstein-Ross said. 'The appeal is designed to both humanize Sotloff and create pressure on Baghdadi, and if I had a loved one being held, it is exactly the right move.'
'Once someone is in the hands of the Islamic State,' he continued, 'their chance of survival if they are American are slim.'
In addition to Steven Sotloff, the Islamic State group is also holding a man and a woman, both humanitarian workers. They are not being identified at their families' request.
© 2014, The New York Times News Service
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, August 28, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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