A video has been posted online purporting to show the decapitation of journalist Steven Sotloff by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the second American to be executed by the militant extremist group.
The death of Mr Sotloff (31), who was abducted a year ago in northern Syria, was announced on Twitter by SITE Intel Group, which monitors online posts by jihadists. The group said that militants were also threatening to execute a British captive, David Cawthorne Haines.
The release of a video showing Mr Sotloff's beheading comes two weeks after the Islamic group, which has taken control of large parts of Syria and northern Iraq, decapitated another US journalist James Foley (45).
The group warned in the video of Mr Foley’s death that Mr Sotloff would be killed unless the US ended air attacks on Islamic State fighters.
Mr Sotloff says in the latest video that he is “paying the price” for the Obama administration’s continued targeting of Islamic State fighters in Iraq.
“Obama, your foreign policy of intervention in Iraq was supposed to be for the preservation of American lives and interests so why is it that I am paying the price of your interference with my life,” the journalist says in the video, entitled ‘A Second Message to America’. The footage showing Mr Foley’s death last month was labelled ‘A Message to America’.
The same masked militant who appeared in the Foley video features next to Mr Sotloff in the latest video, addressing the US president: “I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State.” He spoke with a British accent, similar to Mr Foley’s killer though it’s not clear if it’s the same man who has been nicknamed Jihadi John.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest was unable to comment on the authenticity of the video at the administration’s daily press briefing as the video surfaced online shortly before he started taking questions.
The US government and intelligence officials would analyse the video “very carefully” to determine its authenticity, he said.
“Our thoughts and prayers, first and foremost, are with Mr Sotloff and Mr Sotloff’s family and those who worked with him,” said Mr Earnest. “The United States, as you know, has dedicated significant time and resources to try and rescue Mr Sotloff.”
The White House said late last night that Mr Obama was sending three top officials - Secretary of State John Kerry, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco - to the Middle East “in the near-term to build a stronger regional partnership” against the Islamic State militants. US officials also said Mr Obama ordered 350 more US military personnel to protect the large American embassy in Baghdad, bringing up to about 820 the number of US forces working to bolster diplomatic security in Iraq.
British prime minister David Cameron described Mr Sotloff’s killing as an “absolutely disgusting, despicable act.”
US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the US was working on verifying the video of his beheading.
A spokeswoman for Mr Obama’s National Security Council said that the US intelligence community was working “as quickly as possible” determine whether the video was authentic.
“If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” said the spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan.
Iraq’s outgoing foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, condemned what he called “this savage killing ... an example of savagery and evil,” and said it was evidence of the need for Iraq and the West to defeat Islamic State. “We have a common enemy and the whole world is moving in the right direction to stop this savagery and brutality,” Mr Zebari said. “The whole world is standing united against IS. They must be defeated so these horrid scenes will not be repeated.”
Last week the American journalist’s mother appealed directly to Mr Sotloff’s captors and the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a video message pleading for her son’s life.
“We have not seen Steven for over a year and we miss him very much. We want to see him home safe and sound and to hug him,” she said.
A spokesman for the Sotloff family, Barak Barfi, said they were aware of “this horrific tragedy and grieving privately”.
The family has not been told whether the video is authentic, and Mr Barfi said they did not plan to make any additional comments at this time.
Mr Sotloff, who grew up in Miami and attended the University of Central Florida, wrote about the Syrian civil war and the Middle East for Time magazine and other publications. He posted his last message on his Twitter account in early August 2013 shortly before he vanished.
In the video it released last month, Islamic State said Foley’s death was in retaliation for US air strikes on its insurgents who have overrun wide areas of northern Iraq. The United States resumed air strikes in Iraq in August for the first time since the pullout of US troops in 2011. The raids followed major gains by Islamic State, which has declared an Islamic Caliphate in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq.
Additional reporting from Agencies
