Computer expert dupes media with hostage video

A SAN FRANCISCO computer expert duped the international media over the weekend into believing Islamist kidnappers had executed an American hostage in Iraq by staging his own mock beheading on the Internet.

The FBI questioned Benjamin Vanderford, aged 22, shortly after the hoax became public. “We will pursue any and all legal avenues for prosecution,” said FBI special agent LaRae Quy of the bureau’s San Francisco office. “At this point the matter is still under investigation.”

The video, which appeared on a website used by Islamic militants, showed Mr Vanderford appealing to the United States to leave Iraq. The web format was that used by al-Qaida ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and was introduced by a headline that said it showed Zarqawi killing an American.