Peter Theo Curtis, an American freelance journalist taken captive near the Syrian border two years ago, has been freed. He is now in the care of the United Nations, where he says “everything has been perfect, food, clothing, even friends now.”
Al Jazeera reports that the journalist was released early on Sunday. He was last seen in Antakya, Turkey in October 2012, where he was planning to enter Syria. He was kidnapped by Nusra Front, Al Qaeda's branch in Syria. Curtis read a prepared script, in which he stated his profession, hometown and name, in a video obtained by Al Jazeera in late June. He confirmed that he was from Boston, Massachusetts and that he was a journalist.
Curtis’s release comes at the heels after U.S. journalist James Foley, also captured in Syria in 2012, was beheaded by the Islamic State group in a graphic online video. The video showed another prisoner, Steven Sotloff. Addressing U.S. President Barack Obama in the “Message to America” video, the black-clad IS member threatened: “The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision.”
Many journalists covering the Syrian civil war have been captured in the past three years, since March 2011. Dozens are missing and presumably were kidnapped.
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