Radicals claim beheading of US journalists

American freelance reporter James Foley (left) on the highway between the airport and the West Gate of Sirte, Libya, on September 29, 2011. The Islamic State jihadist group claimed on August 19, 2014, that it had executed Mr Foley to avenge US air strikes against its fighters in Iraq. AFP FILE PHOTO | ARIS MESSINIS

What you need to know:

  • Islamic State (IS) jihadist group threatened to kill another US reporter if bombings did not stop.
  • The video posted on the Internet Tuesday showed a masked militant beheading a man resembling James Foley.

BAGHDAD

Jihadists released a video apparently showing the beheading of an American journalist kidnapped in Syria, in the most direct retaliation yet to nearly two weeks of US air strikes on Iraq.

As calls mounted for Washington to expand its military intervention against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, the militants threatened to kill another US reporter if bombings did not stop.

The video posted on the Internet on Tuesday showed a masked militant beheading a man resembling James Foley, who has been missing since he was seized in Syria in November 2012.

"We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people," Foley's mother Diane said in a Facebook message to supporters.

"We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world," she wrote.

EXPERIENCED CORRESPONDENT

The White House said US intelligence was studying the video, and that President Barack Obama had been briefed on it as he flew from Washington to resume his vacation on Martha's Vineyard.

"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," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.

Mr Foley was an experienced correspondent who had covered the war in Libya before heading to Syria to follow the revolt against Bashar al-Assad's regime, contributing to news site GlobalPost, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and other media outlets.

AFP chairman Emmanuel Hoog described Foley "as a brave, independent and impartial journalist" whose work in Syria and other war zones was "widely admired".

According to witnesses, Mr Foley was seized in the northern Syrian province of Idlib on November 22, 2012.
DESERT
In the nearly five-minute video, titled "A Message to America" and distributed online by known Islamic State sources, the group declares that Mr Foley was killed because Mr Obama ordered air strikes against IS in northern Iraq.

The execution is carried out in an open desert area with no immediate signs as to whether it is in Iraq or Syria by a black-clad masked militant who speaks English with a British accent.
Mr Foley is seen kneeling on the ground, dressed in an orange outfit that resembles those worn by prisoners held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

"Any aggression towards the Islamic State is an aggression towards Muslims from all walks of life who have accepted the Islamic caliphate as their leadership," the masked militant declares.

ANOTHER HOSTAGE

He threatens to kill another man shown in the video and said to be Steven Sotloff, whose kidnapping in August 2013 has not been widely reported.

He has written for several US newspapers and magazines, including Time, Foreign Policy and The Christian Science Monitor.

Formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the IS declared itself a caliphate a successor state to historic Muslim empires in June this year.
Formed by a mixture of Sunni insurgents who have fought US and Shiite-led government forces in Iraq and anti-regime rebels in Syria, it has attracted recruits from around the world.