U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) called for prayers today for the family of the young humanitarian aid worker held captive by ISIL terrorists, Kayla Mueller from Prescott, Arizona, after ISIS claimed she was killed in Jordanian air strikes.
ISIL has lied about the welfare of hostages in the past, and few believe the claims made about Mueller.
The Jerusalem Post reports that Jordanian officials are skeptical about the claim. “We are looking into it but our first reaction is that we think it is illogical and we are highly skeptical about it. … It’s part of their criminal propaganda,” Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad Momani told the Post in response to Islamic State’s account of what happened to Mueller. “How could they identify Jordanian war planes from a huge distance in the sky? What would an American woman be doing in a weapons warehouse?” Momani asked.
In August 2013, Mueller was taken captive by ISIL terrorists while leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria, according to McCain’s office. Kayla had been working along the Turkish-Syrian border for months helping the thousands of men, women and children whose lives were torn apart by the humanitarian catastrophe created by Bashar Assad and the Syrian civil war.
Mueller graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2009. Kayla served people in need around the world, including India, Israel, and the Palestinian territories.
“While I have no new information today on Kayla’s current situation, I do know from speaking regularly with her family that she is extremely devoted to the people of Syria, and to doing all she can to alleviate the terrible suffering which has left more than 200,000 people dead and driven millions from homes into refugee status. I also know that Kayla is extremely well-loved and dearly missed by her family and friends in Arizona,” said McCain.
“I ask that the news media please respect the privacy of the Mueller family at this difficult time, and for all Americans to say a prayer for Kayla, her family, and her return home to those who love her,” urged McCain.
“For as long as I live, I will not let this suffering be normal – something we just accept,” Mueller told The Daily Courier in 2013. “When Syrians hear I’m an American, they ask, ‘Where is the world?’ All I can do is cry with them, because I don’t know,” Mueller said.