Peter Kassig's family call for restraint after beheading

video
Parents of US army veteran ask for video of their son's apparent
beheading not to be shared or distributed.
The parents of the American hostage in Syria, Peter Kassig, have called for restraint
in publishing the jihadist propaganda video released on Sunday which claims that
he has been killed and beheaded.
The video, more graphic than those showing previous murders of hostages, shows
18 Syrian soldiers having their heads cut off by jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant (Isil).
It concludes with the British-accented fighter known as Jihadist John standing over
what appears to be the head of Mr Kassig.
"This is Peter Edward Kassig, a U.S. citizen, of your country," he says, pointing his
knife at the camera as he did in previous films, and addressing himself to President
Barack Obama. "To Obama, the dog of Rome, today we are slaughtering the soldiers
of Bashar and tomorrow we will be slaughtering your soldiers."
The American and British governments both said they were examining the video and
trying to authenticate it. Ed and Paula Kassig, who had made personal appeals to Isil
to release their son, said in a statement they were aware of the news and awaiting
confirmation.
"We will have no other statement at this time and ask that you please respect our
privacy," they said. The family respectfully asks that the news media avoid playing
into the hostage takers hands and refrain from publishing or broadcasting
photographs or video distributed by the hostage takers.
"We prefer our son is written about and remembered for his important work and the
love he shared with friends and family, not in the manner the hostage takers would
use to manipulate Americans and further their cause.
The video, entitled "Although the disbelievers dislike it" is different in style to those
showing the beheadings of four previous hostages - James Foley and Steven Sotloff,
American journalists, and David Haines and Alan Henning, British aid workers.
Whereas those videos focused on the westerners' beheadings, and featured
statements by the hostages themselves, in this case no images are shown of Mr
Kassig before his death, nor any stage of his killing.
Unusually, his body is not shown, only his head.
Most of the film is standard Isil propaganda showing the history of the movement, its
ambition to impose a caliphate across the world, and the alleged crimes committed
by the West and the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
It also re-shows previous massacres of captives by Isil, including mass shootings of
Iraqi soldiers.
It then shows startling and theatrical footage of the decapitation of 18 Syrian "pilots
and officers", lined up, each one in front of a jihadist, all in military fatigues except for
Jihadi John, each with a knife. Slow motion is used to emphasise the expressions of
both the killers and those killed.
Jihadi John's appearance suggests the release of the video might be a riposte to
reports that he had been injured in an air strike on a meeting of Isil leaders near the
town of al-Qaim on the Syria-Iraq border nine days ago. A source in Raqqa told The
Telegraph that he had heard a report that Mr Kassig had been killed about a week
ago.

Jihadi John speaks in familiar terms, casually insulting President Obama and calling
David Cameron a puppet of the United States. He says that America and Britain are
showing that they had not really withdrawn their forces from Iraq, and predicts that
even more troops will follow.
"With Allahs permission we will break this final and last crusade and the Islamic
State will soon, like your puppet David Cameron said, begin to slaughter your people
on your streets," the jihadist says.
Mr Kassig, 26, served in the American military and was deployed to Iraq in 2007 with
the US Army Rangers, developing a deep interest in the Middle East.
After an honourable discharge, he moved to Beirut and set up a medical charity,
which specialised in delivering aid to refugee camps.
He was taken hostage in October last year during a trip to deliver food and medical
supplies to Deir Ezzour in eastern Syria.
Like other families, his parents initially observed a media silence.
But when video emerged last month showing Mr Kassig wearing an orange jumpsuit
in the Isil murder video of Alan Henning, a British taxi driver, they launched a very
public campaign to persuade his captors to release him.
Mr and Mrs Kassig, from Indianapolis, issued their own video message describing
how their son had converted to Islam, changing his name to Abdul Rahman, and that
other captives had told them his faith brought him comfort.
Mrs Kassig said: Our hearts ache for you to be granted your freedom so that we can
hug you again and then set you free to continue the life you have chosen, the life of
service to those in gravest [need].
They also set up a Twitter account to send messages to his captors.
"I am an old woman, and Abdul Rahman is my only child. My husband and I are on
our own, with no help from the government," wrote Mrs Kassig. "We would like to talk
to you. How can we reach you?"
Their campaign included releasing a letter sent by their son, describing his terrifying
ordeal.
I am obviously pretty scared to die but the hardest part is not knowing, wondering,
hoping, and wondering if I should even hope at all, he wrote. If I do die, I figure that
at least you and I can seek refuge and comfort in knowing that I went out as a result
of trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need.
They also joined worshipers at a mosque in the to pray for his release.
Their actions follow complaints by Mr Henning's family that they were gagged by
the British government, which they said could have done more to secure his release.
Mr Kassig's death would be the latest murder following two American journalists
James Foley, Steven Sotloff and two British aid workers David Haines and Mr
Henning. A third Briton, John Cantlie, an award-winning photographer is still being
held.
His skills have been used by Isil to deliver a string of propaganda messages.
Analysts suspect the gruesome nature of the beheadings and their accompanying
videos are part of a complex media campaign designed to breed revulsion in the
West and draw the US and its allies deeper into conflict.