Parents of Kayla Mueller thank Donald Trump for ‘getting’ Baghdadi
The parents of Kayla Mueller, who died while being held hostage by Islamic State, praised Donald Trump’s "decisiveness" and criticised Barack Obama’s handling of their daughter’s captivity.
The operation at the weekend, in which the terrorist group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died, was named after Miss Mueller.
Her mother Marsha Mueller told the Arizona Republic newspaper: "I still say Kayla should be here, and if Obama had been as decisive as President Trump, maybe she would have been.
"For me what matters most, I’m hoping now we will finally get the answers we have been asking for all along. I think this administration truly might help us. I don’t think they are as closed about what happened."
She added: "He [Mr Trump] knows her story. He’s been briefed on it, and he knows, and that’s important to me. I don’t think anything would have stopped him from getting this guy."
AP
Mrs Mueller added to CNN: "I just want to say how grateful we are to this administration, to the military, and to the special forces that went in.
"We were deeply touched by what he [Mr Trump] said. We were grateful that they didn’t mess around and went right in."
Miss Mueller, an aid worker, was taken hostage in 2013. Her death was announced in 2015 but her body has not been recovered.
During her captivity her family was encouraged by the US government not to make the situation public or to pay a ransom.
Following their daughter’s death the Muellers became critics of how the US government had handled hostage situations. Carl Mueller, her father, became a vocal supporter of Mr Trump, speaking at his rallies.
After Baghdadi’s death Mr Mueller told the Arizona Republic: "What this man [Baghdadi] did to Kayla – he kidnapped her. She was held in many prisons. She was held in solitary confinement. She was tortured. She was intimidated. She was ultimately raped by al-Baghdadi himself.
"He either killed her or he was complicit in her murder. I’ll let people who read this article make up their own mind how a parent should feel."
