Islamic State ‘Beheads’ US Journalist Steven Sotloff, Threatens to Kill British Man Next [Video]
Islamic State has allegedly beheaded U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff. This is the same man whom the militant group threatened to kill in its earlier video which showed the beheading of another American journalist James Foley.
A video has emerged online which claims to show the alleged beheading of Sotloff. The full length video is 2 minutes and 46 minutes long. SITE Intel Group earlier tweeted the news of the release of the video made by al-Furqan Media Foundation. The video, uploaded on a file-sharing Web site on Sep 2, shows in a similar looking setup just like the previous video featuring Foley.
#IS Behead Steven Joel #Sotloff, Threatens to Execute Briton David Cawthorne Haines http://t.co/ZPkj9VbicJ
— SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) September 2, 2014
Sotloff, dressed in orange-coloured prison-like robes, says in the video that he is paying the price for the U.S. government decision to invade Iraq. He addresses U.S. President Barack Obama and asks him if the American people are interested in a war. "You've spent billions of U.S. tax-payers' dollars and we've lost thousands of our troops in our previous fighting against the Islamic State, so where is the people's interest in reigniting this war?" he asks in the video.
A masked IS militant who appears to be the same one who executed Foley stands besides Sotloff. He blames the "arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State" by the Obama government for being responsible for the "comeback" of the executioner. "I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State," the man in black says, "You, Obama, have but to gain from your actions but another American citizen. So, just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people." The masked militant in the video threatens to kill David Cawthorne Haines who is claimed to be British.
The 31-year-old American journalist disappeared in 2013 when he was in Syria. His family said that it was aware that a beheading video of Sotloff had appeared online. The members of the family is reported to be "grieving privately." Sotloff's mother requested Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to spare her son. She made the appeal after the beheading video of Foley had emerged online.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that the authenticity of the video was being checked.
Video Courtesy: YouTube/The Global Mirror
Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au