Beheaded journalist Sotloff had info rebels used chemical weapons and believed being kidnapped by Al-Qaeda would earn their trust

Journalist Steven Sotloff who was kidnapped and beheaded by ISIS believed the Syrian rebels possessed and possibly used chemical weapons on Aleppo and wanted to report it leaked conversations show. American foreign fighter Matthew Vandyke who fought along side the Libyan insurgency and also went to Syria on a pro-Syrian rebel mission, revealed to Sotloff that he had information that Syrian rebels posed chemical weapons before they were used in Aleppo.

In another conversation Sotloff told Vandyke that he believed being kidnapped by Al-Qaeda group Jabhat al-Nusra would be a way to earn their trust. Vandyke agreed claiming some of the best connections he made with Al-Qaeda groups were after being 'arrested'. In another conversation Vandyke was very eager to meet with the Al-Qaeda group Jabhat al-Nusra and network with them.

The conversations where leaked by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) who hacked Vandyke's email and Facebook account. A zip file of several hundreds of conversations can be downloaded here. Vandyke has confirmed that his Facebook account and email were hacked by the SEA as well as stating that his comments about rebel chemical weapons were true, and other individuals have also authenticated that the leaked conversations are real and accurate.

Confirmation

Authenticity of private conversations were made public on Vandyke's and Jack Murphy's facebook wall.

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The leaked conversations

Downloaded facebook history is compressed into this format you will end up with, compressed without images.

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Stoloff tried to convince Vandyke to go on record about rebels possessing chemical weapons , assuring him the information could be spun in favour of the rebels.

Dangerous acquaintances - meeting with Jabhat al-Nusra
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Sotloff told Vandyke that he believed being kidnapped by Al-Qaeda group Jabhat al-Nusra would be a way to earn their trust.

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