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               Internet Video Purports to Show Sotloff Beheading

   by VOA News

   An Internet video uploaded Tuesday by Islamic State purports to show
   the beheading of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff.

   A masked figure in the video also issued a threat against a British
   hostage, a man the group named as David Haines, and warned governments
   to back off "this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State,"
   the SITE monitoring service reported.

   U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said officials are checking
   into the authenticity of the video. If genuine, Psaki said, "we are
   sickened."

   The images follows the video release of the gruesome beheading of U.S.
   freelance journalist Jim Foley Last month.

   Officials comment

   White House spokesman Josh Earnest could not confirm the beheading, but
   told reporters "our thoughts and prayers" are with Sotloff's family.

   Sotloff was taken captive in Syria in August 2013, roughly a year after
   Foley was taken hostage, and worked for Time and Foreign Policy
   magazines.

   The video had clear echoes of Foley's murder. Sotloff, as with Foley,
   appeared in an orange jumpsuit, and his killer is dressed in black, his
   face hidden.

   Similar to Foley, Sotloff was forced to kneel in what appears to be a
   strip of desert before being beheaded.

   It was unclear when the video was shot.

   The Islamic State group has seized a large swath of land across eastern
   Syria and northwestern Iraq, declaring the area a "caliphate."

   The United States has been conducting airstrikes in coordination with
   Iraq's government against the group since early August.

   Amnesty International on Tuesday said it had evidence Islamic State
   militants are conducting a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing in
   northern Iraq, carrying out war crimes, including mass summary killings
   and abductions.

   Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
   said, "Beheading is a fate that has been perpetrated on many throughout
   the region by ISIS. What is unique about this is the release of this
   information -- the way in which ISIS boasts about its ability to kill
   and terrorize.

   "We need to form an international coalition to defeat ISIS. They have
   set up a virtual caliphate on the Internet. We know of over 500
   fighters from Britain, many thousands from continental Europe and Asia,
   an estimated 5,000 foreign fighters streaming in -- getting training by
   Chechen forces

   "We in the U.S. should target the terrorist training camps. We should
   be leading the coalition, using airstrikes and drones," he said.

   On August 27, Sotloff's mother, Shirley Sotloff, issued a video plea to
   IS's leader during which she described her son as an "honorable man"
   who should not be punished for U.S. government actions.

   "I've learned that Islam teaches that no individual should be held
   responsible for the sins of others," she said on the video posted on
   YouTube. "Steven has no control over the actions of the U.S.
   government. He is an innocent journalist. I've also learned that you,
   the Caliph, can grant amnesty. I ask you to please release my child."
   Some material in this report came from Reuters.


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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/internet-video-purports-to-show-sotloff-beheading/2436145.html