US says execution video of journalist Steven Sotloff is authentic

A video purportedly showing US journalist Steven Sotloff kneeling next to a masked Islamic State fighter holding a knife in an unknown location in this still image from a video released by the Islamic State on Sept 2, 2014. The video of the exec
A video purportedly showing US journalist Steven Sotloff kneeling next to a masked Islamic State fighter holding a knife in an unknown location in this still image from a video released by the Islamic State on Sept 2, 2014. The video of the execution is authentic, the White House said on Wednesday, Sept 3. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The video purporting to show United States journalist Steven Sotloff being executed is authentic, the White House said on Wednesday.

"The US Intelligence Community has analysed the recently released video showing US citizen Steven Sotloff and has reached the judgment that it is authentic," said National Security Council spokesman Caitlin Hayden.

In the footage release by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Mr Sotloff calmly addresses the camera to say he is a victim of US President Barack Obama's decision to press on with air strikes in Iraq against the jihadists. The video later shows a black-clad militant cutting his throat, before displaying his severed head.

Last month another American reporter James Foley was murdered in a similar fashion.

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