JOURNALIST BEHEADED
What happened to James Foley?
A JOURNALIST who was kidnapped and beheaded by ISIS is being explored in a BBC documentary series.
In The Face Of Terror on BBC2 explores stories of people fighting for truth and justice following acts of terror, beginning with a hostage crisis in Syria and the far-right attack in Christchurch.
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Who was James Foley?
James Wright Foley, 40, was an American journalist and war correspondent
Foley was born on October 18, 1973, in Evanston, Illinois.
While covering the war in Syria, Foley was brutally tortured and executed in 2014.
The chilling murder captured on video by people claiming to be part of ISIS.
What happened to James Foley?
Foley was working as a freelance war correspondent during the Syrian Civil War when he was abducted on November 22, 2012.
The journalist was beheaded on August 19, 2014, by a British citizen known as Jihadi John purportedly as a response to US airstrikes in Iraq.
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He was the first American citizen killed by ISIS but one of several people kidnapped and executed by the group during a two year period.
Jihadi John, real name Mohammed Emwazi, was a British Arab believed to be the person seen in several videos showing the gruesome beheadings.
The monster always appeared masked in the videos in which he was filmed beheading various western hostages including Brit aid worker Alan Haines and another British man, Alan Henning.
A letter sent by James Foley to his parents - thought to be his final communication with them before his death - was revealed soon after in the same month of his death.
In it, the kidnapped US journalist told how he struggled to get through the “dark days” after being seized by Islamic State monsters.
He said he “yearned for freedom” and would make up games with fellow captives to try to pass the time.
And he spoke of how he held his family close to his heart while he was locked up in Syria.
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Who are James Foley's parents?
James Foley's parents joined the families of three other Americans killed by ISIS in calling for US-based trials of the terrorists accused in their deaths.
Their opinion piece published in the in July 2020, urged that two members of the Isis terror cell known as the "Beatles," currently held in US custody in Iraq, be brought to the US to face prosecution.
"Like any grieving relatives, we want to know the full truth about what happened to our loved ones, and we want to see our children’s murderers held accountable," the families wrote.
"These things can happen only if the suspects are put on trial before a jury in an American court of law."
Was Mohammed Khalifa arrested?
Mohammed Khalifa, 38, was flown to the US this week to face terrorism charges. the the footage of Foley's horrific beheading, in addition to several other prisoner executions.
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Khalifa is from Canada, and served as an English language translator for ISIS. According to the complaint filed against him, he was responsible for the group's "English Media Section," and played an important role in spreading ISIS propaganda which targeted Western audiences.
Khalifa joined ISIS in 2013 after traveling to Syria, and was captured by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led militia, in January 2019.
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