by Puk Damsgård
After James, the first to have his throat cut, it didn’t take long before Daniel saw the next video. The Beatles had unfortunately kept the promise they made in the video of James: that Steven Sotloff would be the next, despite his mother in the United States making a public video appeal to spare her son’s life.
Less than two weeks after Steven was executed, it was David Haines’s turn. He left behind a wife and two children at home in Britain. And on 3 October Alan Henning was killed; he didn’t make it home to his wife and their two children either. The only relief Daniel felt was that he knew they had found peace; the worst thing for him was the uncertainty about what would happen to the final two male hostages, John and Peter. It felt right to be on a plane beside Arthur on his way to say goodbye.
· * ·
Arthur steered the car through the forests, while Daniel chose music to listen to on his iPhone that reminded him of James. They stopped at a Starbucks, where Daniel bought a pumpkin spice latte before they rolled up in front of the family’s white house.
Daniel went in first and was received in the Foley family’s kitchen, where the whole family was gathered. He got a long hug from Diane, who showed him round and introduced him to the family. When Arthur appeared in the doorway, he got the same reception.
‘He’s the one who tried to get Jim home,’ said Diane.
In Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church in Rochester, Arthur and Daniel sat next to each other in the pews. Arthur looked at Daniel, who was in tears. He placed a hand on his shoulder and passed him a handkerchief.
One of history’s most notorious kidnapping cases ended here for them. While Arthur sat next to Daniel, he tried to come to terms with the fact that he had managed to save one but not the other. More than anything else, he wished he could have reunited them somewhere other than at a memorial service.
· * ·
Two days later in the predawn darkness, Daniel and Arthur drove off towards Boston. The sun was just rising above the horizon as they walked out on a headland near a coastal fort. The dark grey cliffs rose up from the Atlantic Ocean like jagged, inflexible monsters. They walked past signs saying ‘danger’ and ‘no swimming’, while they clambered over the rock formations. The fresh wind threw the cool ocean air against their faces and they shivered in their overcoats.
Daniel looked out over the water. He didn’t hold a grudge against the people who had tortured him and killed his fellow prisoners. The hatred that governed their actions came from somewhere: either from the way their lives had turned out in the Middle East, where they had grown up in lawless states and under dictatorships that treated their citizens far worse than he had been treated; or in Europe, where the Beatles didn’t accept what they saw as the hypocrisy of the western democracies, and instead used violence, terror and oppression to get their message across.
He had been one small pawn among many in a big political game in which the Islamic State was able to play a role because Iraq and Syria had collapsed, and because western countries had interfered, using methods that weren’t perceived as a democratic alternative. He found it easier to forgive than to be angry and filled with hatred. Daniel jumped from one damp rock to another.
‘I can just see the headline!’ shouted Arthur. ‘“Former hostage killed on rocks in New Hampshire under supervision of security expert.”’
They laughed at Arthur’s bad joke.
‘Let’s take a dip,’ suggested Daniel.
The waves were beating against the rocks and there was an undertow that threatened to sweep them out to sea and engulf them. They walked around the headland and found a place where the water was calmer.
Then they stripped off their clothes and dived in.
Postscript
Six of Daniel’s male fellow prisoners died in captivity. The last person to be killed was the American Peter Kassig, who was executed by ISIS on 16 November 2014.
Nor have the female hostages been spared. On 6 February 2015 Islamic State published a photo of what the organization claimed was the bombed-out building where the American Kayla Mueller was being held, alone, when she was killed by a Jordanian air strike. In fact, IS probably killed the American woman itself when negotiations stalled.
In late 2015 new information appeared about Kayla Mueller’s time in captivity. Apparently she had been kept in the residence of an IS leader best known by his nom de guerre Abu Sayyaf, who had a senior role in overseeing IS’s gas and oil operations. His wife Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar admitted to FBI agents that IS leader al-Baghdadi ‘owned’ Kayla Mueller while she was held in Abu Sayyaf’s residence. According to US officials, Kayla was raped repeatedly by al-Baghdadi while in captivity.
The wife of Abu Sayyaf is now charged in federal court in Virginia with conspiracy in the death of Kayla Mueller.
Jihadi John, a Kuwaiti-born British citizen from London who was later identified as Mohammed Emwazi, was killed in a drone strike in November 2015. In January 2016 IS acknowledged his death in their online magazine Dabiq.
Two days after Emwazi was killed, the man who is believed to be George and another friend of Emwazi’s from London were arrested in Turkey. Aine Davis, a former drug dealer aged thirty-one, was arrested on suspicion of planning attacks in Istanbul similar to the November 2015 attacks in Paris.
The Washington Post and Buzzfeed identified the third of the trio, Ringo, as Alexander Kotey, 32, a Londoner of Ghanaian and Greek-Cypriot background. His whereabouts are unknown.
On 24 September 2014 the United States placed ten new people on the so-called Specially Designated Global Terrorists list, which contains the names of the world’s most wanted terrorists and terrorist organizations. One of the names added was Abu Athir, the Emir of Aleppo, who was responsible for the hostages. According to the US State Department, using another alias of his, ‘As of mid-July 2014, Amru al-Absi was selected as ISIL’s provincial leader for Homs, Syria, in the Aleppo region. As a principal leader of ISIL in Syria, he has been in charge of kidnappings.’
Syria is still one of the most dangerous places for journalists to travel to, and kidnappings of journalists and photographers continue as the media tries to report from the war zone.
· * ·
Since the summer of 2015 Daniel Rye has been in the process of fixing up his new 150-square-foot allotment house in Odense. The house is where he is beginning his new life, in which he hopes to continue his photography.
Daniel’s fellow prisoner John Cantlie, the British war correspondent who was captured with James Foley, is probably still in captivity. He has appeared in a number of ISIS videos, first in a six-episode series entitled Lend Me Your Ears and later, as an Islamic State ‘reporter’ who has filmed in Kobanî, Mosul, Al-Bab and Aleppo under the guard of his kidnappers. In one of the videos he interviews a man identified by some as Abu Mohammed, his former French prison guard from the children’s hospital in Aleppo.
In November 2015 Cantlie appeared in a byline in the IS magazine Dabiq. The piece, entitled ‘Shift: Paradigm Part II’, which may or may not have been written by Cantlie, discusses the caliphate and its currency. And in March 2016 he appeared in a video posted online by ISIS in which he is shown presenting a news report from Mosul that derides US attempts to deal with the extremist organization.
In the summer of 2015 President Barack Obama announced that the White House would not prosecute families of American hostages who negotiated private ransoms with terrorist organizations. If that had been the situation while James Foley was alive, the family would have been able to try to collect the ransom money and potentially save his life without the risk of prosecution.
Otherwise, Denmark, the United States and the United Kingdom maintain their policy of not paying ransoms for citizens who are held by terrorist groups such as IS.
Foreigners Held Captive by ISIS
The following list refers to prisoners mentioned in this book. The stated p
rofession indicates what the person in question was doing in Syria when the kidnapping took place. The dates are in some instances approximate and as accurate as can be, due to the nature of the hostage situation.
Daniel Rye, photographer, Denmark
Kidnapped 17 May 2013; released 19 June 2014
Didier François, journalist, France
Kidnapped 6 June 2013; released 19 April 2014
Edouard Elias, photographer, France
Kidnapped 6 June 2013; released 19 April 2014
James Foley, journalist, United States
Kidnapped 22 November 2012; killed 19 August 2014
John Cantlie, journalist, United Kingdom
Kidnapped 22 November 2012; still in captivity
Nicolas Hénin, journalist, France
Kidnapped 22 June 2013; released 19 April 2014
Pierre Torres, journalist, France
Kidnapped 22 June 2013; released 19 April 2014
David Haines, aid worker, United Kingdom
Kidnapped 12 March 2013; killed 13 September 2014
Federico Motka, aid worker, Italy
Kidnapped 12 March 2013; released 26 May 2014
Steven Sotloff, journalist, United States
Kidnapped 4 August 2013; killed 31 August 2014
Javier Espinosa, journalist, Spain
Kidnapped 16 September 2013; released 30 March 2014
Marc Marginedas, journalist, Spain
Kidnapped 4 September 2013; released 25 February 2014
Peter Kassig, aid worker, United States
Kidnapped 1 October 2013; killed 16 November 2014
Ricardo Vilanova, photographer, Spain
Kidnapped 16 September 2013; released 30 March 2014
Toni Neukirch, aid worker, Germany
Kidnapping date unknown; released 19 June 2014
Alan Henning, aid worker, United Kingdom
Kidnapped 26 December 2013; killed 3 October 2014
Sergey Gorbunov, unknown, Russia
Kidnapping date unknown; killed March 2014
Kayla Mueller, aid worker, United States
Kidnapped 4 August 2013; killed 6 February 2015
Dan, Médecins Sans Frontières, Denmark, and an unnamed colleague, Belgium
Kidnapped 2 January 2014; released 14 May 2014
Three unnamed women, Médecins Sans Frontières
Kidnapped 2 January 2014; released 4 April 2014
An unnamed woman
Name and nationality may not be published; her whereabouts are unknown as of March 2016.
About the Book
I have attempted to write this story as accurately as possible from the recollections of the sources, keeping in mind that people perceive and remember events differently. Moreover, as much as possible I have verified information and experiences with other sources who were present.
In hostage cases it is well known that the Danish authorities remain extremely secretive. During the process of working on this book it has become clear how unusually reticent different authorities have been in terms of giving information or confirming or denying facts provided by other sources.
The authorities want as little information as possible to come out about Daniel Rye’s kidnapping. One reason is to prevent damaging the chance of solving any future hostage cases. Another reason is so that nothing is revealed to potential kidnappers about what position the Danish government will take in hostage situations. They should only know that the state doesn’t pay ransoms, in the hope of thereby avoiding further kidnappings of Danish nationals. That is why private security companies, paid by the families involved, take charge of the negotiations.
However, it is also a fact that groups like IS take hostages not only to get an economic benefit, but for ideological and political reasons as well. The security of Danish nationals has deteriorated in many countries, particularly since Denmark has joined the international coalition against IS in Iraq, regardless of Denmark’s position on not negotiating with kidnappers.
In the final analysis, Daniel’s ransom was only slightly cheaper than some of his fellow hostages, whose governments were responsible for the ransom sum and the negotiations. France, for example, paid €2.5 million (£1.9 million) per French hostage.
· * ·
Signe, Daniel’s former girlfriend, didn’t want to participate in interviews or fact-checking. Therefore, in the few places where she is mentioned, the information is based solely on what Daniel and his family remember and have told me.
Dan, the Danish Médecins Sans Frontières worker, did not want his last name to be revealed.
Finally, I want to express my warmest thanks to my editors at Politikens Forlag, Tonie Yde Højrup and Kim Hundevadt, for their Herculean labour, their sharp eyes and their indispensable input along the way.
© Miriam Dalsgaard
Daniel Rye, October 2015
THE ISIS HOSTAGE
Puk Damsgård has been the Middle East correspondent for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) since 2011, having previously lived for several years in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As a journalist and writer she has received a number of awards, including Denmark’s prestigious Cavling Prize for this book and her work across the Middle East. The ISIS Hostage is Damsgård’s second bestseller about the region.
First published in Denmark 2015 by Politikens Forlag, JP/ Politikens Hus A/S with the title: Ser du månen, Daniel.
First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Atlantic Books, an imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd.
The English translation of this book was funded by Jens og Helle Kruuses Mindelegat granted by JP Fonden.
Copyright © Politikens Forlag, JP/Politikens Hus A/S, 2015
English Translation © David Young 2016
The moral right of Puk Damsgård to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-78649-056-8
Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-78649-057-5
E-book ISBN: 978-1-78649-058-2
Lyrics from Small Shocks by Amalie Stender/Anders Christenson/Peter Lützen © Tigerspring Publishing/Sony/ATV Music Publishing Scandanavia reproduced by permission of Notfabriken Music Publishing AB.
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THE ISIS HOSTAGE
