I’m having a hard time recalling the last time a man was forcibly converted to Christianity before having his head chopped off.

Via Perth Now:

JOURNALISTS James Foley and John Cantlie converted to Islam by force while being held hostage in Syria, a Belgian newspaper has quoted a jihadist suspect as saying.

Foley, an American, was beheaded by the Islamic State group last month, while Cantlie, a Briton, is believed to still be in captivity.

IS has been accused of forcing Christians and other minorities to convert to Islam during their sweep across parts of Iraq.

The Flemish-language newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws cited testimony from Jejoen Bontinck, a 19-year-old Belgian Islamist convert who was detained last October upon his return from an eight-month visit to Syria and charged with belonging to a terrorist group.

Bontinck told Belgian interrogators that in August 2013, IS suspected him of spying and put him in a prison in the region of Aleppo where the two Western journalists were being held, according to the newspaper.

About two weeks into their captivity by IS they told the Belgian they had converted to Islam.

Bontinck said his jailers had encouraged him to convince his two cellmates to convert to Islam, suggesting they had not taken seriously the two men’s prior conversion, the newspaper said.