A new video released on Tuesday by the Islamic State shows an ISIS militant beheading American journalist Steven Sotloff, who was kidnapped in Syria last year.
The video, entitled “A second message to America” shows an ISIS terrorist beheading Sotloff and threatening British hostage David Haines. He declared: “I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State. So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.” He added after that: “You, Obama, have yet again, through your actions, killed yet another American citizen.”
The speaker is believed to be the same man suspected of beheading journalist James Foley last August. The previous video ended with the militant, speaking with a British accent, threatening to execute Steven Sotloff if the US continued its airstrikes. The US have conducted more than 120 airstrikes so far against ISIS. After beheading Sotloff, the executioner, dressed head-to-toe in black, went on to threatening the life of British hostage David Haines.
Sotloff was reporting about the civil war in Syria for Foreign Policy and some other publications when he was kidnapped. His kidnapping was kept quiet until he appeared in the video of American journalist Foley’s beheading last month. He had previously worked for TIME magazine and the Christian Science Monitor, reporting on conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa. Time editor Nancy Gibbs said in a statement: “We are shocked and deeply saddened by reports of Steven Sotloff’s death. 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. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”
The killing was also condemned in another statement issued by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the killing as a “despicable act”.
US officials said intelligence experts had begun work on establishing the authenticity of the video. The Sotloff’s family issued a statement saying it believed Steven had been killed.
The Moroccan Times.
