German Hostage Freed by Islamic State in Syria after Government Paid Ransom - Report

A German national, abducted by the Islamic State militants in Syria, was released after the government paid the terrorist group the ransom it demanded, according to reports which emerged on Sunday.

German daily Die Welt Am Soontag states the 27-year-old man was taken hostage by IS over a year ago in Syria, and was released in June.

The report claims it has confirmed the tradeoff through its highly placed sources. However, the identity of the person or the amount of ransom paid for his release have not been disclosed. 

The daily also notes that though the German foreign ministry and the internal affairs department have denied having "paid a ransom in any form", there is a strong indication that IS was "given something in return".

The man, who reportedly hails from the eastern state of Brandenburg, was kidnapped by IS fighters while he was travelling in Syria in 2013. His family is understood to have received an email earlier this year, with a video showing the man and the ransom demand.

The video also contained the execution of another hostage, the report noted. Germany then reportedly started negotiations with the Islamic State and finally secured his release in June.

After IS executed US national James Foley earlier last week, his brother alleged that the Barack Obama administration failed to secure his release.

While talking to Yahoo News on Friday, Michael Foley said that the beheading was the failure of the US government.

"There's more that could have been done directly on Jim's behalf," Michael said. "I really, really hope that Jim's death pushes us to take another look at our approach to terrorist and hostage negotiation."

When informed that the US had sent SpecOps into Syria this summer in a secret rescue mission, Michael, who is an Air Force serviceman, sounded skeptical.

"I'd like to think it did happen, but I certainly wasn't aware of it."