White House denies Sotloff sold by moderate rebels

The White House cast doubt Wednesday on allegations that a moderate rebel faction in Syria had sold the whereabouts of slain American journalist Steven Sotloff to the Islamic State jihadist organization prior to his capture.

“Based on the information that has been provided to me, I don’t believe that is accurate, but I do know at the same time that this is the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a news briefing. “They are looking into all aspects of this, including how Mr. Sotloff may have come into the hands of [IS].”

Earnest was responding to charges leveled Tuesday by Barak Barfi, a spokesman for the Sotloff family, who told CNN that other “so-called moderate” rebels at the border alerted Islamic State terrorists that Sotloff had crossed into the country, selling the tip for between $25,000 and $50,000.

“Somebody at the border crossing made a phone call to ISIS, and they set up a fake checkpoint with many people,” Barfi said.

Sotloff, a dual Israeli-US citizen, was killed by IS terrorists, his beheading recorded in a video released online last week. He was kidnapped on August 4, 2013, after crossing into Syria from Turkey.

His family and the Obama administration kept his kidnapping secret until he appeared in a video showing the beheading of another US journalist, James Foley.

During the course of Sotloff’s time in captivity, the family had a strained relationship with the administration, according to Barfi, who said that the government could have done more to save Sotloff and keep the family informed.

“We know that the intelligence community and the White House are enmeshed in a larger game of bureaucratic infighting and Jim [James Foley] and Steve are pawns in this game and that’s not fair, and if there continue to be leaks the Sotloff family will have to speak out to set the record straight,” Barfi said to CNN.