'An extraordinary son, journalist and person': James Wright Foley's mother pays tribute

[Jefferson23]

The mother of an American journalist thought to have been murdered by militants from the Islamic State (Isis) has urged his kidnappers to spare the lives of any remaining hostages.

Isis yesterday released a propaganda video depicting a militant with a British accent beheading a man purported to be the American photojournalist James Foley, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012.

In a message posted to the Facebook page “Free James Foley”, his mother Diane Foley wrote: “We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people. We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world.”

Originally from New Hampshire, Mr Foley, 40, was a freelancer who had contributed to Stars and Stripes and the Global Post. In November 2012, he and another journalist were working in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, close to the Turkish border, when they were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen. Ms Foley wrote that the oldest of her five children, “was an extraordinary son, brother, journalist and person.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/an-extraordinary-son-journalist-and-person-james-wright-foleys-mother-pays-tribute-9679944.html