The parents of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter Kassig, who was captured a year ago, have said they cannot meet the Islamic State's demands
American hostage Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter Kassig, who was captured by Islamic State (IS) militants a year ago has said in a recent letter to his parents that 'the stress and fear are incredible' in captivity.
According to the BBC, Kassig's parents have released more extracts of a letter written by their son in Islamic State captivity. They received the letter earlier this year from a hostage released by Islamic State. Earlier the former United States army ranger had written that he was 'afraid to die' and was saddened by the pain his ordeal was causing his family.
In it, Kassig said he is kept together with other hostages, with whom he plays chess and trivia games, but that the mental strain of captivity has been "incredible", according to "CBS this morning".
"Don't worry Dad, if I do go down, I won't go thinking anything but what I know to be true. That you and mom love me more than the moon and the stars," the letter said.
Kassig was taken into captivity on October 1, 2013 while he was working as an aid worker.
Kassig's parents Ed and Paula Kassig had also received a threat by Islamic State extremists that their son would be beheaded.
"CBS this Morning" reported that Kassig's parents received an audio recording of their son two weeks ago in which he warned that he was in danger if the United States did not halt its air strikes. The 26-year-old captive, an Indiana native, was threatened in a video issued earlier this month by Islamic State that showed the beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning, 47.
The parents had said in a statement that a former hostage had told them that their son Peter Kassig had voluntarily converted to Islam last year when he had shared a cell with a Syrian Muslim.
In an interview with "CBS This Morning" on Monday, the Kassigs said they are unable to meet the financial and other demands of their son's captors. They did not elaborate on what Islamic State had demanded in exchange for their son's freedom. "Their demands have always been ones that we cannot accommodate," Paula Kassig, the captive's mother, told the TV program.
Kassig's parents told the TV program that they had kept his capture secret for roughly a year on orders from Islamic State militants but that the recent beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff after his family had followed similar instructions moved them to change tactics.
A former US Army soldier who deployed to Iraq in 2007, Kassig was doing humanitarian work through Special Emergency Response and Assistance, an organization he founded, when he was taken captive while on his way to the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor, his family has said.
Kassig's first name was Peter before he converted to Islam while in captivity, the family has said.
Henning's beheading was the fourth such killing of a Westerner by Islamic State, following the deaths of two US journalists and another British aid worker.
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