US journalist's mother pleads with Islamic State to show mercy: 'My son, Steven ...

CNN

The anguished mother of captured U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff pleaded Wednesday with the barbarian holding her son to spare his life and set him free.

'He's an innocent journalist,' Shirley Sotloff said in an videotaped address to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that was broadcast on the Al Arabiya network.

Addressing the murderous ISIS chief as 'the caliph of the Islamic State,' the Florida mom said, 'My son, Steven, is in your hands.'

'I ask you to use your authority to spare his life and to set the example of the Prophet Mohammed, who protected people of the Book,' she said. 'I want what every mother wants: to live to see her children's children. I plead with you to grant me this.'

Shirley Sotloff made her heartfelt plea a week after an ISIS thug beheaded another American reporter, James Foley, and warned in the videotaped execution that 31-year-old Sotloff would be next.

Sotloff's mom insisted her son 'traveled to the Middle East to cover the suffering of Muslims at the hands of tyrants.'

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'Steven is a loyal and generous son, brother and grandson,' she said. 'He's an honorable man and has always tried to help the weak.'

'We've not seen Steven for over a year and we miss him very much. We want to see him home safe and sound and to hug him.'

Sotloff, she added, 'has no control over the actions of the U.S. government.'

'Since Steven's capture, I've learned a lot about Islam,' she continued. 'I've learned that Islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others.'

Then she pleaded for mercy for her boy.

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'I've always learned that you, the caliph, can grant amnesty,' she said. 'I ask you to please release my child. As a mother, I ask your justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over.'

Shirley Sotloff's plea came after ISIS launched a new terror campaign on Twitter to get President Obama to stop bombing their positions in Iraq.

It features Sotloff, and urges ISIS followers to flood the Twitterverse with ghastly pictures and warnings that he will be beheaded if Obama does not bend to their will.

Sotloff, who has reported for Time magazine, World Affairs, National Interest and the Christian Science Monitor, was captured a year ago while reporting in Syria.

His last tweet on Aug. 3, 2013 was about his favorite basketball team, the Miami Heat.

csiemaszko@nydailynews.com

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