Kayla Mueller ‘would not lie to escape ISIS,’ reveals man who tried to save her

The boyfriend of Kayla Mueller has said he tried to save the hostage’s life by pretending they were married, but she refused to lie to her Islamic State captors. Omar Alkhani, a Syrian photographer, said he had persuaded a number of people to let him plead for her release, and posed as her husband. But the 26-year-old denied being his wife, possibly foiling her own rescue. ”Since she’s American, they would not let her go anyway,” Alkhani told the Associated Press. ”Maybe she wanted to save me. Maybe she didn’t know I came back to save her.”

In the end, I was afraid if she didn’t go with me, she would go with someone else.

Omar Alkhani, boyfriend of Kayla Mueller

The guards of her prison cell told Mueller that Alkhani would not be harmed if she told the truth, so she apparently stuck to honesty to save him rather than take the slim chance to save herself, he said. Mueller’s death was confirmed last week by her family and the U.S. Government, though the circumstances remain unclear. Alkhani met the Arizona woman in 2010. They were taken hostage in August 2013 after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria, but he was released after 20 days following beatings and torture.

Maybe she wanted to save me. Maybe she didn’t know I came back to save her.

Omar Alkhani

World Kayla Mueller