John Cantlie says Isil hostages were waterboarded for trying to escape

British photojournalist, who has been held captive for two years, makes his fifth appearance in the "Lend Me Your Ears" propaganda series

British hostage John Cantlie held by Islamic State militants at an undisclosed location
British hostage John Cantlie is held by Islamic State militants at an undisclosed location

John Cantlie, the hostage held by extremists in Syria, has described how prisoners were waterboarded in punishment for trying to escape, in the latest video released by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

He appears in the fifth instalment of a series entitled "Lend Me Your Ears", sitting behind a desk wearing an orange jumpsuit as he has in previous episodes.

In it Mr Cantlie, a 43-year-old British photojournalist who has been held for two years, delivers a message under duress, complaining that the British and American governments have abandoned their nationals held by Isil.

"Now, unless we tried something stupid like escaping or doing something we shouldn't, we were treated well by the Islamic State," he said. "Some of us who tried to escape were waterboarded by our captors, as Muslim prisoners are waterboarded by their American captors."

He also reads from emails supposedly sent from the families of American captives, complaining at government inaction.

"We have begged them so many times already. Everyone has buried their heads in the sand. We feel we are caught in the middle between you and the U.S. government, and we are being punished," one says.

The latest statement makes no reference to recent events. In fact in an article published in Isil's own English-language online propaganda magazine, Mr Cantlie wrote that he had recorded eight episodes which would be released one by one.

He signs off by saying that in the next instalment he will talk about a failed rescue mission and how "one soldier was worth five prisoners and we were worth none" - an apparent reference to a deal with the Taliban that freed Sgt Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Mr Cantlie, 43, a freelance journalist, who worked for a number of newspapers including The Sunday Telegraph and The Sunday Times, was kidnapped while reporting from northern Syria in November 2012.