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Sunday, October 12, 2014

'ISIS eagerly awaits Western boots on the ground': Hostage John Cantlie delivers fourth slickly edited video message from bloodythirsty extremists to Obama and Cameron


  • .Another video of John Cantlie has been released by his IS captors
  • .He says the terrorists are 'eagerly' awaiting a ground war with West
  • .Photojournalist also speaks of blaming David Cameron for his ordeal 
  • .Lengthy piece allegedly written by Mr Cantlie included IS magazine Dabiq
  • .Story carries the headline 'The real story behind my videos'
  • .Mr Cantlie was seized while he was working in northern Syria
  • .Article says he is sleeping on mattress in a 'clean and comfortable room'
  • .Says he has had to watch as fellow hostages go to their deaths
  • .It appears in magazine designed to inflame the feelings of IS followers
  • .Unclear if the article was penned by Mr Cantlie or written under duress
  • .Propaganda magazine takes its name from ancient prophesy 
  • .Foreign Office 'aware of magazine and article and analysing its contents'
A fourth video message featuring British hostage John Cantlie has been released by his IS captors - telling the world that IS 'eagerly awaits' a ground war with America.
In the professionally-produced video, titled 'Lend Me Your Ears', the captive speaks of the strength of ISIS and warns that a clinical offensive where no one 'gets their hands dirty' is impossible.
Dressed in the orange jumpsuit IS captives are usually seen wearing, he said: 'One month ago Obama pressed the button on airstrikes. Now we have to wonder how long his policy of no boots on the ground has left to live.
'As for IS, they eagerly await to see those boots.' 
Captive: A still from the newly-released video of British Hostage John Cantlie. The photojournalist has been a captive of IS for two years
Captive: A still from the newly-released video of British Hostage John Cantlie. The photojournalist has been a captive of IS for two years
Mr Cantlie, a photojournalist who has worked for newspapers including The Sunday Times, has featured in several propaganda videos released by the Islamic extremists in recent weeks. 
In forced speech, spoken as if reading from a script, he addresses British Prime Minister David Cameron directly on the beheadings of former hostages James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines and Alan Henning.
He said: 'Now you want to use these deaths to fan the flames of war. If this is the case I deeply resent it Prime Minister. Thanks a lot.'
The video follows the publishing of an article allegedly written by Mr Cantlie in a propaganda magazine by Islamic State militants.
The lengthy piece was included in the fourth issue of IS's Dabiq magazine and carries the headline: 'The real story behind my videos.' 
The article - which was written in the first person and published online - insists that Mr Cantlie produces the scripts for the videos and calls on the British Government to negotiate his release.
Mr Cantlie, a photojournalist who has worked for newspapers including The Sunday Times, has featured in several propaganda videos released by the Islamic extremists in recent weeks
Mr Cantlie, a photojournalist who has worked for newspapers including The Sunday Times, has featured in several propaganda videos released by the Islamic extremists in recent weeks
Hostage: An article allegedly written by British hostage John Cantlie, pictured in an online video has been published by Islamic State militants
Hostage: An article allegedly written by British hostage John Cantlie, pictured in an online video has been published by Islamic State militants
It includes a photograph of Mr Cantlie, 43, appearing to wear the now-familiar orange outfit worn by other IS hostages, and it is not clear how much the hostage was acting under duress when, or even if, he wrote it.
It is slickly put together, in a propaganda magazine designed to inflame the feelings of IS followers.
Describing Mr Cantlie as 'nobody going nowhere', the article says he is sleeping on a matress on the floor of a 'clean and comfortable' room, which 'for a man in my position, it is enough'.
It states: 'Four of my cellmates have already been executed by the Islamic State in the most visceral way possible after the British and American governments apparently made a joint decision not to discuss terms for our release with our captors.
Familiar: The article includes a photograph of Mr Cantlie appearing to wear the now-familiar orange outfit worn by him in previous videos and by other IS hostages
Familiar: The article includes a photograph of Mr Cantlie appearing to wear the now-familiar orange outfit worn by him in previous videos and by other IS hostages
'And now, unless something changes very quickly and very radically, I await my turn.'
It adds: 'I've had to watch as James (Foley), Steven Sotloff, David Haines and Alan Henning, walked out of the door, one every two weeks since August 18, never to return, knowing they were going to be killed and going to their deaths.'
The title of the propaganda publication, Dabiq, is taken from the name of a small town in northern Syria close to the border with Turkey.
Magazine: The article appeared in propaganda magazine Dabiq
Magazine: The article appeared in propaganda magazine Dabiq
The town is said to be symbolic for the jihadists because it features in an ancient prophecy which warns of a battle between an Islamic army and an 'infidel horde' in Syria which will herald the destruction of the world.
Mr Cantlie's father, Paul, 80, has said his son was seized in northern Syria where he had been working as an independent photojournalist.
The article states Mr Cantlie was captured by a 'sheik' in November 2012 alongside U.S. journalist James Foley, who was brutally murdered by jihadists in August. 
Mr Cantlie was first shown in a propaganda video last month, where he claimed he had been ‘abandoned’ by the Government and pleaded with them to negotiate with his captors - a request repeated in the article. 
The slickly-made video, which had Arabic subtitles, marked a significant change of tactics by IS, which had previously released barbaric footage of hostages being executed in a desert. 
Two more videos were later released, showing Mr Cantlie, who was abducted in November 2012, speaking out against US action in Iraq and Syria, which is also addressed int he article.
Addressing the video in the article, which has been published in English, the author states: 'The mujahidin suggest initial titles, I write the scripts, hand them over for any copy changes that need to be made and the videos are shot.
'It's all very fast - the first eight videos were written, approved and filmed in just 12 days - but the mujahidin are like that. In quick, get the job done, move on to the next task.'
The article describes the incarceration of Mr Cantlie and his fellow hostages as 'one of the worst hostage disasters of recent times'.

HOSTAGE'S SERIOUSLY ILL FATHER BEGS IS FROM HOSPITAL BED

Earlier this month Mr Cantlie's sick father issued a heartbreaking plea from a hospital bed for his son’s release.
In a direct televised appeal to Islamic State, Paul Cantlie, 80, who has throat cancer, asked his jihadist captors to return him home safely to those who love him.
He said his efforts to communicate with the militants had only been met with silence and he could only hope they had received them.
Speaking about watching the original footage of his son, he said: ‘For the first time in almost two years, we saw John when he made a televised broadcast during which he told viewers that he was still a prisoner of the Islamic State and that maybe he will live and maybe he will die.
‘As a family we experienced great relief seeing and hearing John and knowing that he is alive. This was followed by the feeling of despair and helplessness.’
Addressing his son’s captors, he said: ‘To those holding John: please know that he is a good man, he sought only to help the Syrian people and I ask you from all that is sacred, to help us and allow him to return home safely to those he loves and those who love him.’
Smoke rises after a strike on the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane by the Kurds, as seen from the Turkish-Syrian border. IS are now poised to take the town, despite desperate fighting from Kurdish resistance 
Smoke rises after a strike on the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane by the Kurds, as seen from the Turkish-Syrian border. IS are now poised to take the town, despite desperate fighting from Kurdish resistance 
Flying high: The black flag of ISIS flies over the Kurdish Syrian Town of Kobane. Turkey has yet to intervene militarily, angering the Kurd community
Flying high: The black flag of ISIS flies over the Kurdish Syrian Town of Kobane. Turkey has yet to intervene militarily, angering the Kurd community
It says: 'Here in prison, we'd lived inside an absolute vacuum for two years. Of the outside world, I knew nothing.
'The most complicated piece of apparatus I'd handled was occasionally opening a can of processed meat; now there's something called an iWatch.
'Then we started work on these videos and as part of the research process, I was allowed to read news downloads on the impending war in Iraq and Syria, and on our particular situation.' 
Photographer: Mr Cantlie poses with a Free Syrian Army rebel in Aleppo, Syria, on November 11, 2012, the same month that he was captured
Photographer: Mr Cantlie poses with a Free Syrian Army rebel in Aleppo, Syria, on November 11, 2012, the same month that he was captured
Despite the article previously stating Mr Cantlie had seen the other hostages leave to be executed, it later states he could not talk to them as he had chosen to stay in his own 'small cell'.
'I find the close confines of the walls stop my mind wandering too far and I can focus more, keep myself in check in my solitude,' it says.
Speaking of his captors, it adds: The mujahidin have kindly given me a voice the others never had. I don't know why I deserved such a privilege, but I'd use my voice to say this:
'Please don't allow these deaths to fade quietly into the night - there is more to this than meets the eye. The public have no appetite for consecutive beheadings of their countrymen in 2014, so why was this allowed to happen?'
In what can be seen as a boast of the IS military capabilities, it says there are '32,000 fighters, tanks, missile system, law courts, a police force and they control the second largest city in Iraq.'
It signs off with the words: 'Death holds no fear over me; I have lived beneath its wings for a long time. But if that is to be my final destination, I would rather look it in the face knowing this was a fair fight and not a hollow capitulation.'
A spokesman from the Foreign Office told MailOnline: 'We are aware of the magazine and article and we are analysing its contents.'
Mr Cantlie's father has previously appealed for his release, saying the first time he had seen his son in two years was when he appeared in one of the videos.
In the heartfelt plea from his hospital bed, he said: ‘To those holding John: please know that he is a good man, he sought only to help the Syrian people and I ask you from all that is sacred, to help us and allow him to return home safely to those he loves and those who love him.’ 
 The appeal was initiated by Mr Cantlie’s family who wanted to make contact with the militants. It was approved by the Foreign Office which provided support and advice to the family.

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