MERCY

Mother Begs ISIS to Release U.S. Son

Steven Sotloff faces beheading.

The mother of 31-year-old journalist Steven Sotloff has issued a direct plea to the leader of ISIS for her son’s release. “I am sending this message to you, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Quraishi al-Hussaini, the caliph of the Islamic State. I am Shirley Sotloff. My son Steven is in your hands,” she says in a video. “You, the caliph, can grant amnesty. I ask you please to release my child.” Shirley Sotloff had previously asked news organizations to forgo coverage of her son’s abduction because she was told by ISIS that any publicity would lead to her son being murdered. That blackout ended when ISIS named Sotloff as their next victim after it murdered his cellmate, James Foley, last week. According to reports, Sotloff may have been marked from ISIS early on.