The mother of executed photo-journalist James Wright Foley, 40, has issued a statement after a video surfaced on Tuesday showing his horrific beheading by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria terrorists as revenge for US airstrikes in Iraq.
In a statement posted on the Free James Foley Facebook page, Diane Foley writes that she and husband John “have never been prouder of our son Jim”.
Foley writes that her son spent his life fighting to expose the suffering of the Syrian people. ”We thank Jim for all the joy he gave us. He was an extraordinary son, brother, journalist and person. Please respect our privacy in the days ahead as we mourn and cherish Jim,” she added.
Foley, has been missing since November 2012, after being taken hostage at gunpoint while reporting from Taftanaz, in northern Syria, for the agency GlobalPost.
ISIS posted the extremely graphic video shot at an unknown location, titled ‘A Message to America’ to social media as proof of their barbaric actions. In a chilling warning at the end of grisly film, the executioner parades another American journalist, Steven Joel Sotloff, who went missing in August 2013, saying: “The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision.”
Image: Journalist James Foley has been missing since November 2012.