The mother of an American aid worker kidnapped by ISIS has reached out to the jihadi group on Twitter in a desperate attempt to secure her son's release. The militants have threatened to make former Abdul-Rahman Kassig, 26, their latest Western beheading victim. In a tweet late Wednesday addressed to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Paula Kassig said: "I am trying to get in touch with the Islamic State about my son's fate ... We would like to talk to you. How can we reach you?"It was not clear if ISIS had replied to the message.
Kassig — a former Army Ranger who changed his name from Peter when he converted to Islam last year — served with the military in Iraq. He later founded a humanitarian organization to help refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria. Kassig was undertaking a project for Special Emergency Response and Assistance (SERA) when he was captured on Oct. 1, 2013, on his way to Deir Ezzour in eastern Syria, according to his family. Kassig was shown and threatened with execution in an ISIS video released on Friday showing the beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning, a 47-year-old former taxi driver.
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