The sister of British hostage John Cantlie has appealed for "direct contact" with the “Islamic State” (IS or ISIS) terrorists holding him, the BBC reported on Monday.

The journalist, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012, has appeared in several videos released by ISIS. The latest video, the fourth in the series, was released on Sunday and shows Cantlie saying that ISIS is “dug in for the fight”.

The previous video of Cantlie was released by ISIS at the end of September. In it, the abducted journalist delivered a scripted propaganda attack against U.S. President Barack Obama's strategy in Iraq and Syria.

Cantlie was first paraded in front of the cameras two weeks before that, promising a series of videos giving the real story of IS.

It was the first that had been heard from him since he was captured inside Syria close to the border with Turkey towards the end of 2012.

In a statement Monday, his sister Jessica said it was "simply not accurate" that there had been no attempts to engage with ISIS.

She also "strongly" challenged the group to reopen a previous channel of communication and restart dialogue, reported the BBC.

Jessica Cantlie said she was speaking on behalf of her terminally-ill father, Paul, who recently spoke of his "despair and helplessness" at his son's plight in a separate appeal to ISIS.

"It is not true to say there has been no attempt to engage with IS. This is simply not accurate,” she said, adding, "This is frustrating for all parties, including those who are trying to assist us.”

"We had previously been in contact through a channel started by you. But this stopped for reasons best known to you," said Cantlie.

ISIS has released several videos depicting hostages it has taken. It has released videos showing, among others, the execution of the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as a video showing the murder of David Haines, a British aid worker.