An Italian allegedly being held captive by jihadists in Syria has appeared in a new Youtube video, after he urged his government to save him from execution in a video that surfaced late last year.
"Today is 1 May. My name is Sergio Zanotti. This is the second appeal they have let me make," the 57-year-old businessman from Brescia says in the video posted to Youtube by 'Abu Jihad'.
Zanotti, who has a long grey beard and unkempt grey hair, is shown kneeling in an empty room in the video and is flanked by two masked gunmen dressed in black.
Police have handed the 12-second video to prosecutors in Rome who are probing Zanotti's abduction by suspected terrorists. According to his ex-wife, he vanished in southern Turkey near the Syrian border in April last year.
Zanotti appeared in a video allegedly sent to Russian website News Front in November, kneeling barefoot in an olive grove wearing a long white tunic.
"I call on the Italian government to intervene in my case as I risk execution," says a grim-faced Zanotti. A man dressed in black with his face covered and toting a machine gun is seen standing behind him.
Zanotti holds up a placard with the date 15 November 2016 on it, the same date the video was shot, according to News Front.
News Front said the head of its English service had received the video via Facebook from someone describing themselves as a jihadist from Syria.
