WASHINGTON: Journalist James Foley’s captors had demanded a ransom of ¤100m — $132m — for his release, his employer GlobalPost said yesterday after a video of the American’s gruesome execution was made public.
“GlobalPost CEO Philip Balboni confirms that the initial ransom demand from Jim Foley’s captors was ¤100m,” a spokesman for the news website said. Foley had been reporting for GlobalPost from Syria when he was abducted in November 2012, and Balboni had been closely involved in efforts to locate and free the photojournalist.
Balboni declined to discuss the response to the ransom but shared the communications with relevant US government authorities, the Wall Street Journal reported. On Wednesday Balboni said he and the Foley family had earlier communication with the captors, who had expressed an initial “receptivity to a negotiation” for Foley’s release.
AFP
