A British photojournalist held hostage by the Islamic State was forced to become a mouthpiece for his captors in a propaganda video released Thursday that promised to reveal “the truth” behind the terrorist group and scare off Western forces.
After saying he’s unsure if he will live or die, John Cantlie explains he’d like to “convey some facts” that might help others stay alive.John Cantlie, who worked for several British publications including the Sunday Times, appears calm but tense in the video as he lashes out at Western media outlets, which he says “twist and manipulate that truth for the public back home.”
He was kidnapped with American reporter James Foley in Syria in November 2012 after leaving an Internet cafe near the Turkish border. Foley, 40, was beheaded in a video released by the extremist group last month.
Clad in the bright-orange clothing that has become a hallmark of the group’s execution videos, Cantlie gives the scripted address at a desk in a dark room — and claims he’s not doing it just because he has “a gun to his head.”
“Well, it’s true. I am a prisoner. That, I cannot deny,” he says to the camera. “Maybe I will live and maybe I will die, but I want to take this opportunity to convey some facts that you can verify. Facts that if you contemplate, might help preserving lives.”
The following photos were taken by John Cantlie while he was working as a photojournalist in Syria in 2012 before being kidnapped. Above are rebels of the Free Syrian Army.John Cantlie/Getty ImagesReviewing the video, Colin P. Clarke, a terror expert at the Rand Corp. research group, said he detected desperation in Cantlie’s delivery.
An Afghan gunner fires an artillery piece in Afghanistan.John Cantlie/Getty Images“He seemed like he was really trying to sell it,” Clarke told The Post. “It’s almost like they made this tacit promise: ‘If you do a really good job, you can live.’ ”
Rebels of the Free Syrian ArmyJohn Cantlie/ Getty ImagesThe 3-minute, 21-second clip — which Cantlie says will be the first in a series — marks a new strategy for the Islamic State, which has released three execution videos over the past month.
A boy looks down at an Afghan soldier in Pech Valley, Afghanistan.John Cantlie/ Getty Images“For all this talk of martyrdom, these guys aren’t dumb,” Clarke said. “They have an end goal and are well aware that airstrikes are going to throw a huge monkey wrench into their plans. They’re trying to pull out all the stops at this point and appeal to the British and American public.”
The video is titled “Lend Me Your Ears,” a quote from Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” and a line from “With a Little Help from My Friends” — possibly a nod to the ISIS executioner dubbed “John the Beatle.”
In the clip, Cantlie also blasts the British and US governments for not negotiating to free the group’s hostages.
“It’s very alarming to see where this is all headed, and it looks like history repeating itself yet again,” he says. “There is time to change this seemingly inevitable sequence of events, but only if you, the public, act now.”
Before his November 2012 kidnapping, Cantlie had been taken hostage in Syria with fellow photojournalist Jeroen Oerlemans on July 19, 2012.
They escaped with the help of the Free Syrian Army and later described many of their captors as being British, The Guardian reported.
But Cantlie returned to the region, only to be abducted again a few months later.
Thursday’s video comes less than a week after ISIS beheaded British aid worker David Haines, 44, on camera.
