The family of a US journalist beheaded by Islamic State militants in Syria has started a fund that will create a resource center and support network for families of other Americans held captive in hostile zones.
The James W. Foley Legacy Fund also will work to establish a world wide policy for kidnapping prevention.
“Nothing we do will bring him back,” the family wrote on the fund’s website. “His life – and his death – challenge us all to love and forgive one another, and to make this world a better place.”
A graphic Internet video posted last month showed Foley’s brutal killing by a masked member of the Islamic State militant group that has taken control of parts of Syria and Iraq.
Foley was working as a freelance photojournalist when he was kidnapped in Syria in late 2012. In television interviews this week, his mother was critical of the U.S. government for not doing more to save her son.
The US does not pay ransom to groups it considers terrorist organizations. However, several European hostages held with Foley were freed after money was allegedly paid to the Islamic State.
