The militant Islamic State group has released a video in which it claims to have beheaded the captured American journalist Steven Sotloff, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
(Warning: disturbing image below)
In the video, which lasts for just under three minutes, ISIS appears to murder Sotloff and threatens the life of David Haines, a British citizen. The Washington Post saidHaines is an aid worker who was kidnapped in March 2013.
The video is almost identical in its tone and contents to the one which showed thebeheading of James Foley, another American journalist, two weeks ago. In that video, militants threatened to murder Sotloff next if the US bombing of ISIS targets continued.
ISIS is believed to be holding several more journalists in captivity, most of them local Syrian reporters.
Sotloff, 31, was kidnapped in 2013 while reporting on the bloody civil war in Syria. He had been a freelancer for outlets such as Time magazine and Foreign Policy.
Last week, his mother, Shirley, recorded a video intended for ISIS. She pleaded with the group to be "merciful" towards her son.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Sotloff family said, “The family knows of this horrific tragedy and is grieving privately. There will be no public comment from the family during this difficult time.”
Time editor Nancy Gibbs praised Sotloff's work. “Steven was a valued contributor to Time and other news organizations, and he gave his life so readers would have access to information from some of the most dangerous places in the world," she said.
Recently, the New York Times ran a profile of Sotloff. Friends of his told the paperthat he was a "selfless," "loyal" and "caring" person.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest was in the middle of his daily briefing with journalists when the news of Sotloff's killing broke. He said that the Obama administration would work to confirm the authenticity of the video, adding, "Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Sotloff and Mr. Sotloff's family."
Later, the National Security Council issued a statement saying that the intelligence community was moving "as quickly as possible" to determine the video's authenticity.
"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," the statement continued.
The video was condemned internationally as well, with British prime minister David Cameron calling the beheading of Foley "an absolutely disgusting, despicable act."
And journalists around the world mourned Sotloff's death.
sumber : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
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