John Cantlie, last known Western Islamic State hostage seen alive in new video
Briton John Cantlie, last known held Westerner alive, may be surviving due to his media skills
Islamic State has issued a new video featuring its last known Western hostage narrating a news-broadcast-like report from the Syrian city of Aleppo and its surrounding areas.
The 11-minute footage featuring John Cantlie, who has been in Islamic State custody since November 22, 2012, is the third on-the-scene "report" from the British hostage since October.
It feeds growing speculation among some observers that Cantlie's talents as a news presenter have made him more valuable to IS than just another soon-to-be-executed hostage.
Cantlie's great-grandfather was a doctor in Hong Kong credited with saving the life of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of modern China, and who in 1887 co-founded the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, later the University of Hong Kong.
"While the Islamic State has access to native British speakers, I suspect none is capable of the kind of delivery Cantlie can achieve," said Shiraz Maher, a senior fellow at King's College London who closely studies the group. "They also know that we're all much more likely to talk about, and focus on, a Western hostage than a random individual who's gone out there and joined Islamic State."