(New York Times) The extremist organization known as the Islamic State taunted the United States, in a video released Friday on jihadist websites, for its failed mission to rescue Western hostages held by the group in Syria.
It also sought to persuade the United States and Britain that the only way to secure the release of their citizens held by the group is to negotiate a prisoner swap or pay ransoms, steps both governments have refused to take, saying they would encourage further kidnappings.
The statements came in a new propaganda video featuring John Cantlie, a British journalist who was kidnapped two years ago and whom the group has been using as a spokesman in dispatches aimed at Western audiences.
