File Photo: Islamic State militants with captured pilot Mu'ath Safi Yousef al-Kaseasbeh in Raqqa. (Associated Press)
The father of the Jordanian pilot captured by the Islamic State group has appealed to the militants to treat his son well.
The pilot, 1st Lt. Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh, was taken captive on Dec. 24 after his F-16 fighter jet crashed near the extremists' de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria.
The 26-year-old Jordanian is the first foreign military pilot to fall into the Islamic State group's hands since U.S.-led international coalition began its aerial campaign against the militants in September.
The pilot's father, Safi Yousef al-Kaseasbeh, said Saturday that he is "confident" that his son is "in safe hands in a place where he is respected."
He appealed to the extremists to treat his son "in a good way, and to treat him as a guest."