Slain reporter’s mother worries about Syria pullout impact

NEW YORK (AP) — The mother of a journalist who was beheaded by the Islamic State in Syria says she’s concerned that the U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria will make it more difficult to secure American remains and have access to evidence of that group’s crimes.

In a conversation Monday with the Committee to Protect Journalists, Diane Foley, mother of James Foley, said when troops were in the area, they were able to talk to locals and get information about where possible grave sites might be.

Now, she said, “we won’t have access, so it really decreases our ability to have the remains of our citizens returned and for evidence of the human atrocities that have occurred.”

James Foley was beheaded in August 2014 after being kidnapped in 2012.