IS ‘sorry’ over beheading video

A new video purports to show the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff by Islamic State militants.

Steven Sotloff speaking to the camera before being beheaded by a masked militant. Picture: AFP/ SITE INTELLIGENCE GROUP Source: AFP

• IS militants 'apologise' for release of beheading video
• Video was entitled: "A second message to America"
• Sotloff family "knows of this horrific tragedy and is grieving privately"

THE British executioner who killed US photographer James Foley is believed to have beheaded US journalist Steven Sotloff in a new video released by the Islamic State.

The video showed a masked militant with a strong London accent apparently beheading a second American journalist and threatening to kill a British captive next.

In a bizzare twist, however, the IS militants have come out an apologised over the early release of the video.

Unlike the footage of James Foley's beheading, which was widely shared on Twitter accounts affiliated with the Islamic State group, the video purporting to show Sotloff's killing was not immediately posted online.

FIRST AMERICAN VICTIM: James Foley beheaded by a British ISIS fighter

WEAPONS DROP: RAAF's military airlift of weapons to Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq

Before the video's release, messages on websites frequented by jihadis warned of a "second message to America."

However, it appeared that a separate faction of the Islamic State group posted it early to another account before it was supposed to be released.

Sickening ... a video released by the Islamic State (IS) shows 31-year-old US freelance writer Steven Sotloff speaking to the camera before being beheaded. Picture:AFP/ SITE INTELLIGENCE GROUP Source: AFP

A later Twitter message apologised for releasing it early and asked fellow jihadis not to "reproach" them.

In the most recent beheading video the IS militant says, "I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State".

The footage, seen by AFP after it was found online by private terrorism monitor SITE, shows 31-year-old freelance reporter Steven Sotloff dressed in orange and on his knees in a desert landscape.

The black-clad executioner warns President Barack Obama to end US air strikes against the militant group.

"So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people," he says.

The threat has had little effect. Just hours after it was issued, US forces attacked an Islamic State vehicle convoy near Mosul Dam. It reports 16 were destroyed.

As the video concludes, the terrorist exhorts the Islamic State — a Sunni jihadist group that operates in Iraq and Syria — and then cuts Sotloff's throat.

New horror ... a new video released by the Islamic State (IS) and identified by private terrorism monitor SITE Intelligence Group shows a masked militant holding a knife before beheading 31-year-old US freelance writer Steven Sotloff. Picture: AFP PHOTO / SITE INTELLIGENCE GROUP / HO Source: AFP

He then introduces a second captive, identified in a caption by name as a British citizen.

The Islamic State group has terrorised rivals and civilians alike with widely publicised brutality as it seeks to expand a proto-state it has carved out on both sides of the Syrian-Iraq border.

In its rise to prominence over the past year, the extremist group has frequently published graphic photos and gruesome videos of bombings, beheadings and mass killings.

SECOND 'MESSAGE'

The new video, shot with the same high production values as its predecessor, is entitled: "A second message to America."

It opens with a clip of Mr Obama vowing to be "relentless" in his determination to protect US citizens from IS attacks.

Sotloff identifies himself in English and calmly explains that he is paying the price for Mr Obama's policy. His killer also speaks in English.

Sotloff was kidnapped in northern Syria more than a year ago, on August 4, 2013. His family only publicly revealed his captivity last month, having previously requested a media blackout.

Sotloff, 31, who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, appeared in a video released online last month that showed Foley's beheading. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit against an arid Syrian landscape, Sotloff was threatened in that video with death unless the US stopped air strikes on the group in Iraq.

The previous video was released last month after US President Barack Obama ordered air strikes against the Islamic State.

It showed 40-year-old Foley's death at the hands of a masked militant who then threatened Sotloff, a Miami-born freelance reporter.

US officials said they were working to confirm the authenticity of the latest video, and State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington would be "sickened" if it proved genuine

Shirley Sotloff, the mother of American journalist Steven Sotloff who is being held by Islamic rebels in Syria, makes a direct appeal to his captors to release him.

FAMILY'S GRIEF

Sotloff's mother Shirley Sotloff issued a video last week pleading with IS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi to release her son.

She addressed the leader of the Islamic State group by name and said her son was "an innocent journalist" who shouldn't pay for US government actions in the Middle East over which he has no control.

A family spokesman said the Sotloff family "knows of this horrific tragedy and is grieving privately."

The family has not yet been told whether the video is authentic, and do not plan to make any additional comments now.

In a statement, Foreign Policy magazine said it was saddened by news of his death and called him a "brave and talented journalist" whose reporting "showed a deep concern for the civilians caught in the middle of a brutal war."

INTERNATIONAL REACTION

Australian Prime MinisterTony Abbott said the latest beheading video demonstrates "we are dealing with pure evil".

Mr Abbott defended the US air strikes, saying they have lifted the siege of Mount Sinjar.

"They have helped to lift the siege of is Amerli. They helped to prevent further ISIL (IS) advance into the Kurdish regions of Iraq," he told reporters in Canberra.

"Many countries are talking to one another about what is the best way forward here. But plainly ISIL (IS) is a threat not just to the people of the Middle East but to the wider world."

President Obama has responded with "a mix of reason and appropriate anger" against IS, Mr Abbott said.

"We are right to be appalled, absolutely appalled by what is happening in Iraq. It is abominable, unspeakable, repellent, abhorrent but we obviously have to use our judgment in our response and that is exactly what the President has done."

Foreign Affairs minister, Julie Bishop said the beheading of Sotloff represents a heinous crime and it is a despicable act.

"ISIS (IS) is a brutal organisation, that is why we are so concerned that Australian citizens are leaving this country to fight," Bishop said.

"If these foreign fighters, terrorists come back to Australia, we fear their will be an attempt at terrorism activities.

"We are deeply concerned about this and the imagery of the beheading is shocking."

Bishop said she expects there will be a detailed discussion about IS at the NATO summit and that the issue is not limited to Syria and Iraq.

"We must limit the security risk, not only in the region, but in Australia. We have a responsibility to protect the Australian people from this increased threat," she said.

Throat cut ... Jihadists threaten to kill Sotloff in an earlier video that showed the beheading of US journalist James Foley. Source: AP

"ISIS (IS) is a new and involving and heightened threat and I believe the international community should respond accordingly.

That's why we've been taking the steps of humanitarian support and military equipment to the Kurdish region."

She said it's hard to contemplate the fact that there are Australian citizens taking leadership positions in organisations which behead citizens and journalists "in a brutal and vile way".

Treasurer Joe Hockey says Australia will "not be intimidated by the threats of murders".

The Treasurer denied the government needed to carefully consider its involvement in Iraq on the back of the latest beheading video.

"It's not about following the US into Iraq," he told ABC radio this morning.

"It is about doing what is right and we are absolutely determined to do what is right by humanity, to do what is right by our values as Australians."

Kidnapped ... Sotloff reported extensively on the Middle East, writing for Time and Foreign Policy magazines before being kidnapped by IS in Syria in 2013. Source: Supplied

Former Prime Minister John Howard, who sent troops to Iraq in 2003, said it was "sickening and appalling".

"Every Australian would feel saddened and sickened and horrified by what they have seen from their television sets."

He refused to give any public advice to the current government on Australia's involvement.

But Mr Howard did say everything done to date has been "absolutely correct".

Earlier, the State Department said US intelligence officials were still trying to determine if the video was genuine.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the latest video depicted an "absolutely disgusting, despicable act.".

US House Foreign Affairs Chairman Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., said the new video demonstrates the Islamic State's "barbarity across the region — beheading and crucifying those who don't share their ideology." He said the U.S. and allies need to step up military action against the Islamic State — including through air strikes.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the world was "outraged" at what appeared to be the beheading of Sotloff by Islamic State (IS) militants.

"We are all outraged at reports from Iraq about the brutal killing of civilians by ISIL (IS), including yesterday's reported brutal beheading of another journalist," he said in New Zealand.

AIR STRIKES TAKE EFFECT

Over the weekend, Iraqi government forces with help from U.S. air strikes broke Islamic State's two-month siege of Amirli, a town where some 15,000 Shiite Turkmens had been stranded.

American air strikes against IS positions and vehicles continued in the wake of Foley's death, and more than 120 have been carried out, most of them hitting targets around Iraq's largest dam north of Mosul.

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