Americas

Home page

Americas

After Foley killing, U.S. defends refusal to pay ransom to terrorist groups that kidnap

22 August 2014 08:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Rufat Ahmadzadeh – APA. The Obama administration sharply defended its refusal to negotiate with or pay ransom to terrorist groups that kidnap, following the videotapedexecution this week of American photojournalist James Foley by the Islamic State, APA reports quoting The Washington Post.

“We believe that paying ransoms or making concessions would put all Americans overseas at greater risk” and would provide funding for groups whose capabilities “we are trying to degrade,” Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a briefing Thursday.

It is increasingly clear that ISIS, which is recruiting fighters from across the globe, represents a broad international problem. The State Department estimates that 12,000 foreign fighters from at least 50 countries are in Syria, including a small number of Americans.

They also hope the new sense of international alarm will convince Turkey to more closely monitor its long border with Syria and Iraq and stop would-be Islamist fighters from Europe and the Middle East from crossing over to join ISIS forces.

The beheading of journalist James Foley has prompted American officials to begin working to knit together a broader international campaign to combat the extremists of the Islamic State.