US: Beheading video is authentic

The White House has determined that a video showing the brutal killing of freelance journalist Steven Sotloff is authentic.

Islamic State extremists released the video showing Mr Sotloff’s beheading yesterday. It comes two weeks after the militants released a video showing the killing of James Foley, another American journalist.

In the Sotloff video, a masked militant warns President Barack Obama that continuing air strikes against the group in Iraq will be met with the killing of more Western captives.

Mr Sotloff is a 31-year-old Miami-area native who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines. He vanished in Syria in August 2013.

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden announced the US intelligence community’s assessment of the video in a statement.

In the video titled A Second Message To America,`` Mr Sotloff appears in an orange jump suit before he is apparently beheaded by a fighter with the Islamic State, the extremist group that has conquered wide swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq and declared itself a caliphate.

In the video, the organisation threatens to kill another hostage, who is identified as a British citizen.

Last week, Mr Sotloff’s mother, Shirley Sotloff, pleaded with his captors for mercy, saying in a video that her son was “an innocent journalist” and “an honorable man” who “has always tried to help the weak”.

Barak Barfi, a spokesman for the Sotloff family, said they were grieving after having seen the video. With President Barack Obama on a visit to Estonia, the White House announced the verification.

“The US intelligence community has analysed the recently released video showing US citizen Steven Sotloff and has reached the judgment that it is authentic,” a National Security Council spokeswoman said.