Jihadist asks ISIS to spare American captive

An al Qaeda-linked militant has asked the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to spare the life of an American hostage who treated jihadists during his stint as an aid worker in the region.

The Telegraph reported that Abu Omar Aqidi of Jabhat al-Nusra, a Syrian group linked to al Qaeda, tweeted his support for ISIS prisoner Peter Kassig. Kassig, a former Army Ranger who moved to the Middle East to provide humanitarian aid, is now known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig after he converted to Islam.

{mosads}Aqidi tweeted that Kassig “performed a successful operation under bombardment by the [Syrian] regime,” removing shrapnel from his wound. He added that Kassig helped treat other jihadists in Syria. 

ISIS captured Kassig on Oct. 1, 2013, and the group recently threatened Kassig, when they released a video of the beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning. ISIS reportedly gave the U.S. a deadline of Wednesday to cease bombing the group, or Kassig would be killed.