New video shows British hostage

WASHINGTON – A British freelance photographer, whose kidnapping in Syria has been subject to a media blackout at the request of his family and the British government for nearly two years, has appeared in an Islamic State video that was posted Thursday on the Internet.

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

In the 3-minute, 21-second video released Thursday, Cantlie, who is the only figure visible, appears seated at a desk, dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

Cantlie did not say explicitly that he had been threatened. He acknowledged, however, that he is a prisoner, felt abandoned by his government, had nothing to lose by making the video and that his eventual fate has yet to be decided.

He promised other videos – 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.”

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 government paid ransoms and saw their captives go free.

“I think you may be surprised by what you learn,” he concluded.

McClatchy-Tribune