Islamic State Demands Ransom For Female American Hostage, Threatens Execution

Rebecca Bellecci Tuesday, August 26, 2014

An abandoned Iraqi security forces vehicle is pictured on a road in Tikrit, which was overran by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), June 11, 2014. (Photo: Reuters/Stringer)

U.S. officials confirmed this week that the Islamic State jihadist group is holding a female American hostage after she was kidnapped in Syria last year.

U.S. State Department officials told the Associated Press that the woman's family requested this week that her name not be released to the public to protect her safety. The woman was reportedly kidnapped from the Islamic State last year while working for several U.S. humanitarian aid groups in Syria.

The Islamic State is reportedly calling for a $6.6 million ransom to release the 26-year-old American hostage, as well as the release of a Muslim woman being held in U.S. prison for allegedly trying to target U.S. officials in Afghanistan in 2008.

The jihadist group, an off-shoot of al-Qaeda, is reportedly threatening to execute the American aid worker if it does not receive its ransom money. Just last week, a YouTube video showed American journalist James Foley being beheaded by Islamic State members in an unknown desert location in Syria.

The Islamic State militants had also demanded a multi-million dollar ransom for Foley's safe return to the U.S., but the Obama administration reportedly refused to pay the money under the U.S. principle that avoids negotiating with terrorists.

Although the Islamic State demand the U.S. release Muslim woman Aafia Siddiqui in exchange for its American hostage, Siddiqui's family released a statement Monday seeking to distance themselves from any connection to the Islamic State.

"If the issue is true, we would like to state that our family does not have any connections to such groups or actions," reads a letter written by Siddiqui's family. "We believe in a struggle that is peaceful and dignified. Associating Aafia's name with acts of violence is against everything we are struggling for."

"While we deeply appreciate the sincere feelings of those who, like us, wish to see the freedom of our beloved Aafia, we cannot agree with a 'by any means necessary' approach to Aafia's freedom. Nor can we accept that someone else's daughter or sister suffer like Aafia is suffering," the letter says.