8/25/2014
CAIRO – Peter Theo Curtis, a U.S. journalist kidnapped almost two years ago in Syria, was freed on Sunday and turned over to UN representatives, the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera news network reported.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed Curtis’ release and said that Washington will continue using “every diplomatic, intelligence and military tool” to secure the release of other U.S. hostages being held in Syria.
Meanwhile, the UN press office said that Curtis was turned over to UN representatives in the town of Al Rafid, in Syria’s Quneitra province, at 6:40 p.m. local time and then later delivered to U.S. representatives after a medical check. The communique said that the UN had “facilitated” the journalist’s release.
Al Jazeera said that Curtis was freed after having been abducted in Antioquia, Turkey, as he was planning to enter Syria in October 2012.
A video obtained by the Qatari channel on June 30 showed Curtis with a beard and long hair – but apparently in good health – reading from a statement in which he said he was a journalist from Massachusetts and that his kidnappers were giving him “everything” he needed.
Curtis’ release comes five days after a video was released showing an English-speaking member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant decapitating U.S. reporter James Foley, who had been captured in Syria in 2012.
In the video, the masked ISIL member accused U.S. President Barack Obama of being responsible for Foley’s death for ordering the bombardment of jihadist positions in Iraq.
Also in the video, entitled “A Message for America,” Foley’s executioner said ISIL also was holding U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff, whose life – he said – depended on Obama’s next move.
source
CAIRO – Peter Theo Curtis, a U.S. journalist kidnapped almost two years ago in Syria, was freed on Sunday and turned over to UN representatives, the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera news network reported.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed Curtis’ release and said that Washington will continue using “every diplomatic, intelligence and military tool” to secure the release of other U.S. hostages being held in Syria.
Meanwhile, the UN press office said that Curtis was turned over to UN representatives in the town of Al Rafid, in Syria’s Quneitra province, at 6:40 p.m. local time and then later delivered to U.S. representatives after a medical check. The communique said that the UN had “facilitated” the journalist’s release.
Al Jazeera said that Curtis was freed after having been abducted in Antioquia, Turkey, as he was planning to enter Syria in October 2012.
A video obtained by the Qatari channel on June 30 showed Curtis with a beard and long hair – but apparently in good health – reading from a statement in which he said he was a journalist from Massachusetts and that his kidnappers were giving him “everything” he needed.
Curtis’ release comes five days after a video was released showing an English-speaking member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant decapitating U.S. reporter James Foley, who had been captured in Syria in 2012.
In the video, the masked ISIL member accused U.S. President Barack Obama of being responsible for Foley’s death for ordering the bombardment of jihadist positions in Iraq.
Also in the video, entitled “A Message for America,” Foley’s executioner said ISIL also was holding U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff, whose life – he said – depended on Obama’s next move.
source
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