British Hostage Journalist Appears in Fourth ISIS Video

The British journalist John Cantlie, who has been held for two years by ISIS appeared in a fourth video broadcast by the group and has purportedly written an article in its online magazine, Dabiq, in which Mr. Cantlie reveals how he was captured by a “Sheikh” and is kept in a cell on his own, with only a mattress.

Cantlie also said ISIS was “dug in for the fight” in the seven-minute video that emerged on Sunday. Appearing to offer a scripted argument, he said the western public is being rushed into a war it cannot win, against thousands of armed militants.

“I’ve had to watch as James (Foley), Steven Sotloff, David Haines and Alan Henning walk out of the door, one every two weeks since August 18th, never to return, knowing they were going to be killed and going to their deaths,” John Cantlie, 43, supposedly writes in the fourth issue of Dabiq magazine. “Unless something changes very quickly and very radically, I await my turn.”

The photojournalist has featured in four IS videos. This one commences with him introducing himself with “in this program, we’ll touch on some of the inherent strengths of the Islamic State.” In it he stated that he has been “abandoned” by his government and that Islamic State fighters are ‘dug in for the fight.’ He cites their alleged strengths saying: “war only makes the jihadist movement stronger.”

Cantlie has reportedly been subjected to torture including waterboarding, electric shocks, and being forced to stand up for three days at a time, according to an IS defector. In an interview with Belgian police, 19-year-old Jejoen Bontinck, also said that Cantlie was hit with blunt instruments and became delirious.

The British war photographer was captured in Syria along with Foley in November 2012. Foley, an American war correspondent, was beheaded in August. The following month ISIS released a video of Cantlie criticizing American and British foreign policy, saying he’d been “abandoned” by his government.

Criticism over Western hostage policy has intensified since the murder of British hostages Alan Henning and David Haines and Americans Stephen Sotloff and James Foley. All four were cellmates of Mr. Cantlie, the article reveals, adding that: “If our countries had just talked to the mujahidin, our chances of survival wouldn’t have been low at all.”