A British Import: Help for Families of Hostages Seized Abroad
While he did not relax a ban on paying ransoms, he also said communication would be permissible between hostage takers
and "the families of hostages or third parties who help these families." Mr. Obama also said families should not be threatened with criminal charges if they sought to pay ransoms, as happened to the parents of James W. Foley, an American journalist who was the first of the American captives held by the Islamic State to be beheaded.
She declined to identify any, under the organization’s pledge of confidentiality to families,
but said they included "both political and terrorist cases, and kidnap-for-ransom criminal cases." The United States government now provides information about Hostage US in packets that go to families of hostages, Ms. Briggs said.
" he said, describing her as "an exceptional organizer." Ms. Briggs said the intensity of counseling hostage families can be exhausting.
that So I approached her and I suggested she might join alongside so we might get Hostage UK off the ground,
Last year Ms. Briggs, who was awarded the rank of Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2014 for her
work with hostage families, branched out to establish an American chapter, Hostage US, based in Washington.
Acknowledging that his administration had failed the families of those captives, Mr. Obama said
that going forward, the United States government could under some circumstances negotiate with hostage takers.
Ms. Briggs helped found Hostage UK, a nonprofit charitable organization in Britain for families
of Britons held captive by the Islamic State and other extremist groups and criminal gangs.
