Journalist’s mother pleads with ‘caliph’

Shirley Sotloff issues a video plea to Al-Baghdadi on the New York Times website to release her journalist son, Steven, held by ISIS since 2013:

You, the caliph, can grant amnesty. I ask you please to release my child. I ask you to use your authority to spare his life.

She says Steven is an ‘innocent’ journalist who has no control over the U.S. government’s policies:

As a mother, I ask your justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over.

She says he has been studying Islam since his capture:

I ask you to use your authority to spare his life and to follow the example set by the Prophet Muhammad, who protected People of the Book [Jews and Christans].