Mother of murdered hostage James Foley says she forgives Jihadi John

The Catholic mother of American journalist James Foley has said that she forgives “Jihadi John”, the London-raised ISIS terrorist who is believed to have murdered her son last year.

Diane Foley told the Times: “It saddens me, his [Jihadi John’s] continued hatred. He felt wronged, now we hate him – now that just prolongs the hatred. We need to end it.

“As a mum I forgive him. The whole thing is … an ongoing tragedy.”

Jihadi John was yesterday named as Mohammed Emwazi, from Queen’s Park, north-west London. He has appeared in a number of beheading videos of western hostages, although it cannot be certain that he killed them. Other footage shows him murdering a Syrian soldier.

Foley was murdered in August after being kidnapped in November 2012 along with his translator and British journalist John Cantlie, who is still held by ISIS.

After the killing Pope Francis called the family to express his condolences.

Foley, a journalist for GlobalPost and Agence France-Press and a former teacher, was reported to have converted to Islam during his captivity.

But his mother said hostages who were with him gave conflicting reports and told the Times that she believed he died a Christian.

“What the hostages had told me was that by saying that he had converted to Islam, he would be left alone five times a day, without being beaten, so that he could pray,” she said.

According to the New York Times, Foley was reported to receive particularly gruelling punishment, but was also known for small acts of kindness. “Mr Foley shared his meager rations. In the cold of the Syrian winter, he offered another prisoner his only blanket,” the newspaper reported.