Surviving hostage relates ordeal in Islamic State captivity

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A hostage who survived more than a year as a captive of the Islamic State is testifying about the beatings and torture inflicted on him by his captors. Federico Motka, an Italian national, spent 14 months in captivity in 2013 and 2014. He is the first surviving hostage to testify at the terrorism trial in Virginia of El Shafee Elsheikh, one of several British nationals nicknamed ”the Beatles” by their captives because of their accents. Elsheikh faces a possible life sentence for hostage taking resulting in the deaths of four Americans held by the Islamic State.