A video has been posted online purporting to show the beheading by the Islamic State group of British aid worker David Haines, who went missing in Syria last year. The video emerged hours after the family of Haines issued a public plea on Saturday urging his captors to contact them.
The video emerged a day after the family of Haines issued a public plea late Friday urging his captors to contact them.
The British Foreign Office said late Saturday that it was “working urgently to verify” the video.
“If true, this is another disgusting murder. We are offering the family every support possible. They ask to be left alone at this time.” – Statement by the British Foreign Office
Islamic State militants have beheaded two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as Kurdish and Lebanese fighters, and posted video evidence online. At the end of the last video showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff, the Islamic State group threatened to kill Haines next and briefly showed him on camera.
In the video posted Sunday, the group threatened to kill another Briton. Both British men were dressed in orange jumpsuits against an arid Syrian landscape, similar to that seen in the Foley and Sotloff videos.
The SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S. terrorism watchdog, reported the video, which was also posted online by users associated with the Islamic State group.
The video was entitled “A Message to the Allies of America.” Haines’ purported killer, who appeared to be the same man speaking with a British accent as in the previous videos, tells the British government that its alliance with the U.S. will only “accelerate your destruction” and will drag the British people into “another bloody and unwinnable war”.
British Prime Minister David Cameron even took to social media to express his outrage at the beheading:
The murder of David Haines is an act of pure evil. My heart goes out to his family who have shown extraordinary courage and fortitude.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) September 13, 2014
We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes. — David Cameron (@David_Cameron) September 13, 2014
Haines was abducted in Syria in 2013 while working for an international aid agency. The British government had managed to keep his kidnapping secret out of concern for his safety until the most recent video identified him as a captive. Late Friday, the family of Haines issued a public plea urging his captors to contact them.
In a short statement released through Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the family said: “We are asking those holding David to make contact with us.”
CCTV America’s Dan Whitehead reports on the latest from London.
For more on the latest horrific video and what it may mean, CCTV was joined by Roby Barrett from the Middle East Institute.
This report was compiled with information from the Associated Press.
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