Security services are close to establishing captors identity
This undated image shows a frame from a video released by Islamic State militants on Tuesday. (Photo: AP)
Washington: Journalist James Foley's jihadist captors had demanded a ransom of 100 million euros -- $132 million -- for his release, his employer GlobalPost said Thursday after a video of the American's gruesome execution was made public.
"GlobalPost CEO Philip Balboni confirms that the initial ransom demand from James Foley's captors was 100 million euros," a spokesman for the news website told AFP.
Foley had been reporting for GlobalPost from Syria when he was abducted in November 2012, and Balboni had been closely involved in efforts to locate and free the photojournalist. Balboni declined to discuss the response to the ransom but shared the communications with relevant US government authorities, the Wall Street Journal reported.
On Wednesday Balboni said he and the Foley family had earlier communication with the Islamic State captors, who had expressed an initial "receptivity to a negotiation" for Foley's release. But the negotiations never progressed, and the captors went silent until recently when they sent a message to the Foleys that their son would be killed.
( Source : AFP )
Next Story
