http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/26/world/middleeast/jordan-warns-islamic-state-militants-against-harming-captive-jordanian-pilot.html 2014-12-25 19:14:38 Jordan Warns Islamic State Militants Against Harming Captive Jordanian Pilot The warning came as the pilot’s father implored the Islamic State to treat his son like a guest. === Jordan The warning, reported by Jordan’s official Petra News Agency, came as the father of the captured pilot, who comes from a prominent Sunni Muslim family, implored the captors to show mercy and treat his son like a guest. The pilot, First Lt. Moaz al-Kasasbeh, was His plane was the first to crash since an American-led coalition of countries, including the Arab states of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, began bombing Islamic State targets this year in a campaign to degrade and destroy the group. Lieutenant Kasasbeh is also the first member of the coalition to be captured by the militants, giving them provocative propaganda leverage in their broader battle. It remains unclear whether the pilot’s aircraft had a mechanical failure or, as the Islamic State militants have claimed, was shot down by antiaircraft missile gunners. American military officials said Wednesday there was no indication the plane had been hit by a missile. The Jordanian warning was delivered by the lower house of Parliament, which said in a The statement urged the government of In images posted online by the group, the pilot appears traumatized and disoriented, surrounded by triumphal militants. Some wore their customary face hoods but others were clearly recognizable. The Islamic State has shown extraordinary ruthlessness toward captives and has beheaded a number of them, including Americans, posting the executions on the Internet. Liuetenant Kasasbeh’s father, Youssef, said in an “He is a guest among brothers of ours in Syria Islamic State,” he said. “I ask them - by the name of God and with the dignity of the prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him - to receive him as a guest of his hosts and treat him well.”