Qatar conducts the research in Syria of the bodies of the American hostages killed by ISIL: Report | Investigation news
The research and rescue group has found the remains of three unidentified bodies so far, according to anonymous sources.
An Qatari mission began to seek the remains of the American hostages killed by the armed group of ISIL (ISIS) in Syria about 10 years ago, according to the Reuters news agency, citing two informed sources of the mission.
Qatar’s research and international research group began research on Wednesday, with the help of several American nationals who wanted to remain anonymous, the news agency reported.
Until now, three unidentified bodies have been found by the group, according to sources. The focus of the mission was to locate the body of the worker of the accidents of the Peter Kassig aid, who was beheaded by ISIL in 2014 in Dabiq, northern Syria, a Syrian security source told Reuters.
American worker Kayla Mueller as well as American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were among the other Western hostages killed by ISIL. Foley and Sotloff were confirmed in 2014. The murder of Mueller was confirmed in 2015.
“We are grateful to all those who assume this task and risk their lives in certain circumstances to try to find the bodies of Jim and other hostages,” said Diane Foley, the mother of James Foley. “We thank all the people involved in this effort.”
The Qatari mission is being in progress while US President Donald Trump is preparing to visit Doha and other Arab Gulf capitals next week and while the new government of Syria is asking for relief of the sanctions imposed by the United States.
Washington, as well as other Western governments, said that he would expect to see how the new authorities exercise their power and ensure human rights before lifting sanctions.
The United Kingdom, last month, suppressed its sanctions on 12 Syrian government entities, including the Ministries of Defense and the Interior and the Directorate General of Intelligence.
Long -standing commitment
Isil once controlled large expanses of Syria and Iraq, governing millions of people. At the top of his power from 2014 to 2017, he beheaded many people in captivity, including Western hostages, and has published videos of murders.
A coalition of more than 80 countries, led by the United States, was formed to fight against ISIL in September 2014.
The war against the group officially ended in March 2019, when fighters supported by the United States and led by the United States of the Syrian democratic forces captured the eastern Syrian city of Baghouz, the last ribbon of earth controlled by Isil.
Plans for the Qatari mission were discussed during a visit to Washington in April by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al Thani and Minister of State Mohammed Al Khulafi – a trip also designed to prepare Trump’s visit to Qatar, one of the sources told Reuters.
Another person familiar with the issue said that there had been a long -standing commitment to successive American administrations to find the remains of murdered American nationals, and that there had been several “efforts with American officials on the ground in Syria to search for very specific areas”.
The person has not developed, according to the report. But the United States has deployed hundreds of soldiers in northeast Syria who continued to continue the remains of ISIL.
The person said that the remains of Kassig, Sotloff and Foley were most likely in this part of the country. The Mueller’s case was different because it was under the care of the head of ISIL, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, added the person.
Two members of ISIL, both former British citizens who were part of a cell nicknamed the “Beatles” who beheaded American hostages, are serving prison sentences in perpetuity in the United States.
