US interrogation team in Iraq to grill wife of ISIS leader

US interrogation team in Iraq to grill wife of ISIS leader


Abu Sayyaf was killed in the Delta Force raid Friday, but his wife, Umm Sayyaf, is in US custody and being interrogated. (Reuters)

May 19, 2015

FoxNews.com

A special team of CIA, FBI and Pentagon interrogators has been dispatched to Iraq to grill the wife of the key ISIS leader killed in a daring commando raid last Saturday -- but sources told Fox News that the questioning, which will include queries about murdered American aid worker Kayla Mueller, will stop short of using rough techniques.

"We are not going to be slapping her around,” the official said, but would not disclose any more details.

Umm Sayyaf, the wife of Abu Sayyaf, was captured in the raid by the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force in eastern Syria and whisked away to an undisclosed Iraqi facility where the U.S. High Value Interrogation Group is questioning her.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said Umm Sayyaf will be questioned "about ISIL’s hostage operations,” amid reports that she may have been involved in the captivity and torture of Mueller and a Yazidi woman kept as a sex slave by Abu Sayyaf.

Mueller, from Prescott, Ariz., was captured by ISIS in August 2013 in Aleppo, Syria. In February, ISIS released a statement claiming that she was killed in a Jordanian airstrike in Raqqa.

In addition to taking out a key ISIS leader and the man responsible for the terrorist army's black market oil trade and capturing his wife, the raid netted a "treasure trove" of sensitive information, according to Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas. Officials believe the terrorist leader's wife may know even more about ISIS' operations.

The so-called "enhanced interrogation" techniques, such as waterboarding, used on Al Qaeda detainees like 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, have been ruled out.

The High Value Interrogation Group, comprised of CIA, FBI and Pentagon operatives, is typically deployed on ships transporting detainees to U.S. facilities, including Guantanamo Bay. Should Sayyaf ask for a lawyer, the team is required to stop questioning and provide one.

The Delta Force commandos slipped across the border from Iraq under cover of darkness Saturday aboard Black Hawk helicopters and V-22 Osprey aircraft, according to a U.S. defense official knowledgeable about details of the raid. The U.S. team killed Sayyaf and 11 other ISIS fighters and captured his wife. While no Americans were injured or killed in the operation, some of the fighting was hand-to-hand and Sayyaf used women and children as human shields, sources said..

"It was a real firefight -- a no kidding, old school firefight," a senior defense official said.
Sayyaf, a Tunisian whose real name was Fathi ben Awn ben Jildi Murad al Tunisi, was a senior ISIS leader whose roles included overseeing illicit oil and gas operations -- key sources of revenue for the terror group, according to the White House. He also was allegedly involved with the group's military operations.

Cellphones and laptops were seized in the operation and are now being analyzed for intelligence. U.S. officials said it was likely, given Abu Sayyaf's position, that he knew about more than just the financial side of the group's operations and also was targeted for his known association with the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Fox News Channel's Lucas Tomlinson, Jennifer Griffin and Catherine Herridge contributed to this report

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Kayla Mueller
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia details
Kayla Jean Mueller
Born August 14, 1988
Died c. February 6, 2015 (aged 26)
Syria
Nationality American
Occupation Human rights activist, humanitarian aid worker
Home town Prescott, Arizona, U.S.

Kayla Jean Mueller (August 14, 1988 – c. February 6, 2015) was an American human rights activist and humanitarian aid worker from Prescott, Arizona. She was taken captive in August 2013 in Aleppo, Syria, while leaving a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital.

Media had long reported that a 26-year-old American aid worker was being held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) without naming her at her family's request. Her captivity and death were widely reported upon confirmation of her death.



Activism and humanitarian aid

Mueller was a native of Prescott, Arizona, where she graduated from Tri-city College Prep High School. She attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff in 2007. She supported a variety of causes at home and abroad, in various areas and with many different services including humanitarian aid, human rights, youth mentorship, environmental activism, journalism, and English teaching. Her human rights activism and humanitarian aid included working in India with Tibetan refugees, supporting Tibet cause.[1] Her work in the Middle East included volunteering for Palestinian humanitarianism with the International Solidarity Movement and helping African refugees in Israel with the African Refugees Development Center.[2][3]

Her activism and humanitarian aid involved work with the following organizations:[2][3]

African Refugee Development Center, for whom she volunteered at a summer camp in Israel.
America's Promise, an organization which facilitates volunteer action for children and youth
Amnesty International, for whom she founded a student chapter at Northern Arizona University.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a one-on-one youth mentorship organization in the United States.
Contact Magazine, a Tibetan publication for whom she served as a journalist and an editor.
Danish Refugee Council, for whom she worked to help Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Food For Life Vrindavan, a local branch of Food For Life, which provides free food, education, and medical care for those in need in the region, for whom she taught English and kindergarten students.[4][5]
Food Not Bombs, during college.[6]
International Solidarity Movement, with whom she accompanied Palestinian families and children going to school.
Just Peace, a social justice project of United Campus Ministries at Northern Arizona University, with whom she went on a humanitarian aid trip to Guatemala and with whom she advocated against torture and Guantanamo Bay.
LHA Charitable Trust in Dharamsala, India, for whom she volunteered as an English teacher.
New Day Peace Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, for whom she helped to establish services for veteran students at Northern Arizona University and at Coconino Community College.
Northern Arizona University Center for Intercultural Education, which provides services to international students at Northern Arizona University.
Plum Village, the French monastery of Thích Nhất Hạnh, for whom she volunteered in the center.
Prescott Area Women's Shelter, where she worked during the nights to help meet the needs of homeless women, children, and families.
Save Darfur Coalition, with whom she volunteered for three years, for whom she conducted multiple letter-writing campaigns and led two silent walks.
STAND, for whom she served as the President of STAND:NAU, a local chapter at Northern Arizona University, as well as the Southwest Regional Outreach Coordinator of the parent organization.
Support to Life, an international aid organization, for whom she worked to help Syrian refugees in Turkey
Tibetan Hope Center, an organization that helps Tibetan refugees to gain life skills to live independently in India, for whom she taught English and compiled a monthly newsletter.
Youth Count, where she volunteered in Prescott, Arizona participating in multiple environmental and inter-generational projects.

Capture and death

Mueller started working in southern Turkey in December 2012, where she was assisting Syrian refugees. On August 3, 2013, she drove to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo with a coworker/friend who was traveling to the Spanish Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Aleppo to work for a day.[7] She worked with international aid agency Support to Life.[8][9] On her departure from Aleppo to return to Turkey, militants abducted her.[10]

According to anonymous sources of American reporter Catherine Herridge, the location of Mueller and other American hostages was known by the White House in May 2014, but a decision on a rescue mission was not made for seven weeks. By that time, the hostages had been dispersed.[11]

A media account affiliated with ISIS released a statement on February 6, 2015 claiming that a female American hostage held by the group was killed by one of around a dozen Jordanian airstrikes in ar-Raqqah, Syria. The statement came just days after the release of a video showing the burning of Jordanian fighter pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh by the militant group and the subsequent execution of Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi and other prisoners of Jordan. The statement was later translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, identifying the hostage as Mueller.[12]

Mueller had been in ISIS custody for 18 months. A US mission to rescue her and several others in northern Syria in July 2014 failed when ISIS moved the prisoners. The US was unaware of her location since, though her family was told negotiations were underway to swap her for Aafia Siddiqui, according to Arizona House Representative Paul Gosar.[13] ABC News and CBS News reported that sources in the intelligence community believe Mueller may have been "given over" to an ISIS commander in a "forced marriage" and the group did not view her as a bargainable hostage. In a letter to her family, she spoke of being healthy, well-fed and treated with the utmost kindness and respect in a safe place. ISIS members corresponding with the Muellers referred to Kayla as their "guest".[14][15]

On February 6, 2015, ISIS published a photo of a damaged building, named Mueller and her home town and alleged she had been killed in a Jordanian airstrike in the building where she was left alone with no guards, but no proof of death was provided.[8] The Pentagon agreed the building was one hit in the bombings, but disputed that Mueller, or any civilian, was inside. The site had been bombed by the coalition twice before, and was targeted again because ISIS soldiers sometimes return to bombed sites, thinking the coalition won't return, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. After this, Mueller's name was released by American and other media with the family's consent.[7]

On February 10, 2015, Mueller's family announced ISIS had confirmed her death to them in an e-mail, with three photographs of her dead body, bruised on the face and wearing a black hijab.[16][17] National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said this message was authenticated by the intelligence community. President Barack Obama offered his condolences to Mueller's family.[18]
Reactions
Family

Mueller's parents reportedly implored ISIS to contact them as they hoped their daughter may still be alive. "We have sent you a private message and ask that you respond to us privately", Carl and Marsha Mueller said in a statement. They said they had not talked to the media as ISIS warned them not to.[19]
Government

An American official cautioned that without proof of Mueller's death, the statement by ISIS could be a ploy to cause the Jordanians and the rest of the American-led coalition to refrain from any heavier airstrikes.[7]

Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh called ISIS's claim "an old and sick trick" on Twitter. "So they behead innocent #US #UK & Japan hostages & BURN a brave #Jordan pilot ALIVE & now a hostage is killed by an airstrike? Sure! Sick!", he said.[20][21] He further tweeted: "An old and sick trick used by terrorists and despots for decades: claiming that hostages human shields held captive are killed by air raids."[22] Later upon confirmation of Mueller's death he tweeted: "Saddened & angered to hear news confirming killing of #US hostage #kaylaMueller. Yet another ugly example of these terrorists' brutality."[23]

After many Western news outlets cast doubt on the claim of the hostage death and the extremists' ability to identify Jordanian and U.S. made F-16s flying at high altitudes, Jordan dismissed the claim of a killed hostage as an ISIS publicity stunt and a lie, as the group is known for its propaganda techniques.[24]

After Mueller's family confirmed her death, President Obama said "[Mueller] represents what is best about America, and expressed her deep pride in the freedoms that we Americans enjoy, and that so many others strive for around the world." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement saying "ISIL, and ISIL alone, is the reason Kayla is gone."[25]

The Pentagon declined to investigate whether Mueller was killed by the coalition airstrike. Policy dictates the US only investigates reports of civilian casualties when they come from a "credible source", which ISIS is not.[26]
Media

Time magazine named Kayla Mueller as an ideal role model for Millennials, citing her selfless desire to end suffering, her activism, and her humanitarian aid work, praising her desire not to be seen, but to genuinely help people, and lauding her possession of Millennials' positive good qualities of idealism, optimism, and love of families without troublesome qualities also associated with the Millennial generation.[27]

On February 23, 2015 the Mueller family was interviewed on The Today Show by Savannah Guthrie. Carl Mueller expressed his frustration with the Obama administration over the way it conducted negotiations with their daughter's captors and their policy of not paying ransom money for hostages. "We understand the policy about not paying ransom, but on the other hand, any parents out there would understand that you would want anything and everything done to bring your child home," Carl Mueller said. "And we tried, and we asked. But they put policy in front of American citizens' lives. And it didn’t get it changed."[28]