WASHINGTON — Kayla Mueller, the US aid worker killed this year while being held hostage by Daesh (so-called IS) militants, was raped repeatedly by the group's leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, while in captivity in Syria, US officials said on Friday. Her parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, were told by US government officials that their daughter had been raped by Al-Baghdadi and tortured during her captivity, family spokeswoman Emily Lenzner told Reuters by telephone. Mueller was 26 at the time of her death and would have turned 27 on Friday. "We can confirm that the Mueller family learned in June of Kayla's treatment from the FBI," Lenzner said. ABC News first reported Al-Baghdadi's sexual abuse of Mueller, and US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the report. ABC News quoted Mueller's parents as saying they were told by the US government their daughter "was the property of Al-Baghdadi." — Reuters
