A still image taken from a purported Islamic State video released September 13, 2014 of British captive David Haines before he is beheaded. Islamic State militants fighting in Iraq and Syria released a video on Saturday which purported to show the beheading of British aid worker Haines. (Photo:Reuters)
A video that was released late on Saturday shows the beheading of a British hostage by Islamic State militants, who claimed the beheading of the UK aid worker.
Prime Minister David Cameron said that this act is "pure evil" and vowed Sunday that Britain would do all it can to catch the killers of a British aid worker beheaded by the Islamic State."This is a despicable and appalling murder of an innocent aid worker.
The British prime minster held an urgent meeting with his advisers shortly after a video purporting to show the beheading of British hostage David Haines was released.
"We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes." Cameron said.
The video shows Haines, 44, being killed in a desert location by a masked man. The man was abducted last year while working for the French aid agency Acted.
The video opens with a clip of Cameron describing the British strategy of working with the Iraqi government to help arm Kurdish fighters against "these brutal extremist militants," and to offer aid, diplomacy, and military help to pressure IS.
Haines, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, identifies himself in English and calmly explains he is paying the price for Cameron's policy.
Addressing Cameron, the executioner also speaks in English, with an apparently British accent.
"You entered voluntarily into a coalition with the United States against the Islamic State, just as your predecessor Tony Blair did, following a trend amongst our British prime ministers who can't find the courage to say no to the Americans."
The video appeared less than a day after the aid worker's family on Saturday appealed to his captors to contact them.
Prime Minster Cameron tweeted that his "heart goes out to his family who have shown extraordinary courage and fortitude."
Britain's Foreign Office said they were "working as quickly as we can to try and verify" the video.
The video is certain to intensify calls in Britain for Cameron to consider military action against IS in Iraq, and possibly even in Syria, but the prime minister will be wary of playing into the hands of the captors and escalating tensions.
He is also recovering from last year's humiliation of failing to achieve parliamentary support for air strikes against Syria after President Bashar al-Assad's was found to have used chemical weapons against rebels.
The videos also raise the issue of ransoms, which Britain and the US refuse to pay, arguing it would further endanger their citizens.
In recent days, the families of both Foley and Sotloff have complained in interviews that US officials told them they would prosecuted if they raised ransoms to release the men.
International community's response:
Two US journalists have been murdered in similar circumstances in recent weeks.
The latest two-minute-27-second video titled "A Message to the Allies of America" blames Cameron for joining forces with the United States, which has said it is at "war" with the jihadists and launched air strikes against them in Iraq.
President Barack Obama condemned as a "barbaric murder" the slaying of the British aid worker and in a statement issued Saturday night, Obama said the hearts of Americans go out to Haines' family and the people of the United Kingdom.
"The United States stands shoulder to shoulder tonight with our close friend and ally in grief and resolve," Obama said.
"We will work with the United Kingdom and a broad coalition of nations from the region and around the world to bring the perpetrators of this outrageous act to justice, and to degrade and destroy this threat to the people of our countries, the region and the world," he said.
France on Sunday also condemned the Islamic State's "heinous murder" of British hostage David Haines, urging international action against the jihadist group.
"The heinous killing of David Haines is yet another demonstration of why the international community must mobilise against (the Islamic State), a cowardly and abject organisation," the French presidency said in a statement.
President Francois Hollande's office also expressed France's solidarity with Haines' family and Britain.
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