Reuters
A former translator for ISIS said that Western hostages were made compliant prior to their beheadings with the use of mock executions. “Saleh” told Britain’s Sky News that he worked with Mohammed Emwazi, the 26-year-old Briton dubbed Jihadi John, to communicate with American, British, and Japanese hostages in Syria. Saleh said Emwazi told him to tell the hostages: “No problem, only video, we don’t kill you, we want from your government [to] stop attacking Syria. We don’t have any problem with you; you are only our visitors.” Subject to repeated mock executions, the hostages didn’t know if or when they would be killed. Saleh, who told interviewers that hostages were given Arabic names to make them believe ISIS would treat them well, said he saw Emwazi kill Japanese hostage Kenji Goto in person, although from a distance.