![The value of hostages in ISIL's modus operandi depends on the potential for their execution to be exploited, writes Zeid [Getty]](/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/bca427e619a845789749d78e807aa858_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
ISIL classifies hostages according to the reaction their killing generates if it is publicised.
Mario Abou Zaid
Mario Abou Zeid is a research analyst at the Carnegie Middle East Center, where his work focuses on governance, terrorism, Islamist movements, Lebanes... e politics, and the Syrian conflict.
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