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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Obama says US not intimidated by Islamic State, justice will be served
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Obama says US not intimidated by Islamic State, justice will be served

Britain joins US on the frontline against Islamic State after a British hostage's life was threatened in the beheading video

Steven Sotloff’s beheading video was posted on the internet on Tuesday. This is a second such incident since James Foley’s murder last month.Premium
Steven Sotloff’s beheading video was posted on the internet on Tuesday. This is a second such incident since James Foley’s murder last month.

Baghdad: President Barack Obama vowed Wednesday that the US would not be intimidated by the beheading of journalist Steven Sotloff by Islamic State in Syria but acknowledged the fight against the jihadists would take time.

Obama pledged that justice would be done to the ISIS killers of 31-year-old Sotloff, wherever they hid and however long it took. But he warned that eliminating the threat posed to the region by the group from its bases in Iraq and Syria would take time.

ISIS posted video footage on the internet of Sotloff’s beheading, confirmed authentic by Washington, which sparked outrage around the world. It said the journalist’s killing, which comes on the heels of the beheading last month of another US reporter, James Foley, was in retaliation for expanded US air strikes against its fighters in Iraq over the past week.

Islamic State warned a British hostage would be next unless London backs off from its support for Washington’s air campaign. Prime Minister David Cameron said that Britain too refused to be cowed, while foreign minister Philip Hammond said that British air strikes were not being ruled out.

Obama said the whole world had been repulsed by the barbarism of Sotloff’s murder but “we will not be intimidated". “Those who make the mistake of harming Americans will learn that we will not forget and that our reach is long and that justice will be served," he said.

Obama said Washington was determined to halt the ISIS threat but warned it would depend on close cooperation with partners in the region. He has previously admitted that his administration has yet to develop a comprehensive strategy for tackling ISIS on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border. Washington has ruled out any air strikes for now against Islamic State fighters in Syria, where they hold a swathe of the east.

Obama has also ruled out any cooperation with the Damascus regime against ISIS, for fear that it would drive other Sunni rebel groups in Syria into alliance with the jihadists. Ten children were among 16 people killed in an Islamic State-controlled area of eastern Syria on Wednesday, a monitoring group said. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a air raid hit a bus, but state television blamed jihadists.

British joins US on frontline

The British prime minister said beheading video depicted an “absolutely disgusting, despicable act" and chaired a meeting of security chiefs to discuss how to tackle the ISIS threat.

On Wednesday, Britain joined the US on the frontline against the Islamic State after a British hostage’s life was threatened in the beheading video, with the government saying it would not rule out taking part in air strikes if necessary.

“I can assure you that we will look at every possible option to protect this person," foreign secretary Philip Hammond said after an emergency government meeting held on the eve of a two-day summit of Nato leaders in Wales.

“A country like ours will not be cowed," Prime Minister Cameron said, adding “we will not waver in our aim of defeating terrorism".

Britain has not so far carried out any strikes of its own against jihadist targets in Iraq but it has made extensive reconnaissance flights in support of the US air campaign from its base in Cyprus.

Despicable act

The masked executioner in the video spoke with a London accent and claimed to be the same man, confirmed by UK security services as a Briton, who beheaded Foley.

“I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State," the black-clad jihadist says, wielding a combat knife.

“So just as your missiles continue to strike the necks of our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people," he declares, before reaching round to cut his captive’s throat. At the end of the five-minute recording, the militant threatens another captive, identified as Briton David Cawthorne Haines.

“We take this opportunity to warn those governments that enter this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State to back off and leave our people alone," he says.

Britain has maintained a media silence about kidnapping of aid worker Haines and there were few immediate details about when or how he was abducted. “I can assure you we will look at every possible option to protect this person," the British foreign minister said. “We have to deal with (ISIS) on the basis of the wider threat that they pose to the British public as well as this individual," Hammond added.

‘Brave and talented’

In a statement, the Sotloff family, who live in Miami, said: “The family knows of this horrific tragedy and is grieving privately. There will be no public comment from the family during this difficult time."

Israeli media reported that the family was Jewish and that Sotloff himself held joint US-Israeli nationality but Islamic State made no mention of either in its video.

Steven Sotloff’s former employers at Time and Foreign Policy paid tribute to a man widely respected for his intrepid reporting in Syria and the wider region, including a previous stint in Libya.

UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the world was outraged at the apparent beheading. Hours after the posting of the video, the White House announced that Obama had authorised about 350 more US troops to beef up security at US diplomatic facilities and protect personnel in Baghdad. AFP

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Published: 03 Sep 2014, 08:20 PM IST
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