Militants broadcast beheading on internet

Militants saying they belong to a group that has claimed responsibility for kidnappings and killings in Iraq beheaded a man identified only as a Bulgarian in a video posted on the internet today.

The images were indistinct, making it difficult to identify the victim.

Bulgarian officials, who have said they were unsure what has happened to a Bulgarian truck driver believed held in Iraq by the al-Qaida-linked militant group Tawhid and Jihad, said they had examined the video but were “unable to identify the executed man because of the material’s bad quality”.

“Led by our principle not to become a tool in terrorists’ hands and by our deep respect for the feelings of the hostages’ relatives, we will not comment further on the video material,” the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry added in a statement.

In the video posted on several web sites known for carrying militant Islamic comment and images, masked men identify themselves as members of Tawhid and Jihad and their victim as an unnamed Bulgarian.

Tawhid and Jihad had said it kidnapped the Bulgarians and demanded Iraqi detainees be released in exchange for their lives.

In the tape, a man is heard saying: “Here we are returning again to cut off the neck of the other hostage.”

The video opens with a man kneeling in front of four standing men who are dressed and masked in black.

The brief video ends with bloody images of a body in an orange jumpsuit being beheaded with a knife as his assailants repeatedly shout “God is great!”

The victim does not appear to struggle, indicating he may have been dead or drugged before the beheading, or that his arms were somehow restrained.

In the last scene, one of the men in black brandishes the severed head in front of the camera.