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'As an American, he was the jailers' punch bag'

A French journalist, who had been a prisoner for months with the murdered American journalist James Foley, has claimed he has a “rough” idea as to the identity of the suspected killer.

Nicolas Henin, who had been reporting for Le Point magazine in Syria when he was kidnapped, told French daily L'Express that Foley was treated worse than the other captives because he was American.

"Searching his computer, they found that his brother was serving in the US Air Force. Because of that, and as an American, he was singled out. He became the jailers' punch bag, he was really taking a beating but he always remained impassive," he said.

It is believed that Foley's murderer was a British man known as John. Henin said he could never be sure of his captors' nationalities but told Canal Plus that Isis was made up of many nationalities and he had heard accents from all over the world.

Henin reportedly told ABC News that he found the video that has emerged of Foley's execution particularly shocking because he realised how easily he could have met the same fate.

"For instance, the shoes that he was wearing when he was taken to this place in the desert, I wore them. We had few shoes that we were using to go to the bathroom and we were sharing them," he said.

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ISIS wanted Foley swapped for Pak scientist Afia Siddiqqi

Meanwhile, reports are emerging that ISIS militants, in an email to the family members of Foley, demanded release of several prisoners, including a Pakistani woman scientist who has been convicted of terrorism charges in the US.

In their email dated August 12, to family members of Foley, the Islamic State or ISIS, claimed that the US has refused several offers of release of the journalist, which included not only money but also the exchange of prisoners.

"You were given many chances to negotiate the release of your people via cash transactions as other governments have accepted. We have also offered prisoner exchanges to free the Muslims currently in your detention like our sister Dr Afia Siddiqqi, however you proved very quickly to us that this is NOT what you are interested in," said the email, which was released by The Global Post.

"You have no motivation to deal with the Muslims except with the language of force, a language you were given in 'Arabic translation' when you attempted to occupy the land of Iraq!" the email said, adding Foley would be "executed". 

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ISIS e-mail to Foleys: 'We will not stop until we quench our thirst for your blood'

Dr Siddiqui, an MIT-trained neuroscientist, was arrested in Afghanistan in 2008 and found to have documents on chemical weapons, dirty bombs and viruses indicating she was planning attacks against American enemies, reports said.

Later, she was jailed by a US court for 86 years.

"Now you return to bomb the Muslims of Iraq once again, this time resorting to Aerial attacks and 'proxy armies', all the while cowardly shying away from a face-to-face confrontation! Today our swords are unsheathed towards you, government and citizens alike! and we will not stop until we quench our thirst for your blood," the email said. 

US President Barack Obama has vowed to bring to justice those responsible for killing Foley.

According to Global Post, the email was published after the Foley family agreed to release it.