The father of a British journalist held hostage by the Islamic State has died, weeks after pleading from a hospital bed for the extremist Islamist group to release his son.
Paul Cantlie died last week from "complications following pneumonia," his family announced Tuesday.
November will mark two years since the abduction of his son John Cantlie, an independent photojournalist captured in northern Syria. He appeared in a video released by the Islamic State in September, gaunt and pale. In it, the photographer said he would soon reveal "facts" about the group to counter its portrayal in Western media. He has not been seen since.
Speaking slowly through a ventilator in early October, the elder Cantlie said that while he was relieved to hear his son in the IS footage, he also felt helpless.
The IS has executed foreign journalists and aid workers in Syria this year, citing Western military intervention against the ultra-radical group's offensives in Iraq and Syria.