Parents break silence on son being held by IS
Paula and Ed Kassig said they have been doing all they can to free Abdul-Rahman Kassig, 26, since he was captured in Syria more than a year ago. That includes appealing directly to his captors via YouTube and Twitter messages.
A militant threatened Kassig’s beheading in an October 3 video, in retaliation for US bombing attacks. The couple told CBS This Morning that the militants haveissued demands that are beyond their power to meet.
“They demand. They simply demand,” Ed Kassig said.
“We have sent them back messages that we cannot do what you ask. We have tried. But we don’t have the power to do it,” his wife added. They did not say what the militants demanded, beyond the mention of US raids in the video.
Abdul-Rahman Kassig, who was born Peter Kassig but changed his name following his conversion to Islam while in captivity, was providing medical training and humanitarian aid to victims of the Syrian conflict when he was detained on October 1 2013.
His parents said they were silent about his plight for a year at the instructions of the Islamic State militants but decided to go public after their son was named the terror group’s next victim in a video that showed the execution of British hostage Alan Henning.
The video was the fourth released by the group. Previous victims were US reporter James Foley, American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker David Haines.
Paula Kassig told NBC’s Today show that the couple received an audio recording of their son a couple of weeks ago in which he said he feared his time was running out.
