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Parents Of ISIS Hostage Release Video Asking For Mercy

By Gretchen Frazee

Posted October 4, 2014

Peter Kassig

In a video released today, parents of an Indianapolis native held hostage by the self-proclaimed Islamic State ask his captives to show mercy and release him.

The U.S. government identified Peter Kassig as the man threatened in a video posted this week that shows ISIS militants beheading British hostage Alan Henning.

Kassig was working as an aid worker in Syria when he was taken hostage last year.

In response to the ISIS video, Peter Kassig's parents Ed and Paula released a video statement on Youtube.

Paula Kassig sits next to her husband on a couch in their Indianapolis home, wearing a headscarf and holding a photo of Peter.

Ed Kassig asks the captors to show mercy and to let their son go. Then, his wife speaks directly to her son.

"Please know that we are all praying for you and your safe return. Most of all, know that we love you and our hearts ache for your freedom so that we can hug you again and then set you free to continue the life you have chosen. The life of service to those in greatest need," she says.

Peter Kassig grew up in Indianapolis. His father is a teacher, and his mom is a nurse who works with refugees.

He served as an Army Ranger and did one tour in Iraq before being discharged for medical reasons.

Kassig then traveled to Lebanon where he worked as a volunteer medical assistant and later founded an NGO to help Syrian refugees.

In the video statement, Kassig's father says his son was moved by the suffering he saw in the Middle East.

"He grew to love and admire the Syrian people and felt at home there. Our son's journey culminated in him embracing Islam. Sadly, he was taken captive and is not free to continue his life's work, serving the people of the region," Ed Kassig says.

Others who know Peter Kassig say he was extremely passionate about his work and considered helping the Syrian people a moral imperative.

"From changing bandages in a field hospital to fund raising to provide food, medical supplies and clothing for victims of the Syrian conflict, Peter wanted to help, and by his own personal example show the people of Syria that the world was not indifferent to their suffering," Alistair Harris, the CEO of ARK, said in an email.

Kassig worked for ARK, a consulting firm that specializes in conflict zones, for several months in 2013, managing inventory and conducting basic medical training.

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