The Takfiri group operating in Syria and Iraq released a video a video apparently showing the beheading of an American journalist kidnapped in Syria, as it warned the US against strikes against the Qaeda-affiliated group.

The Takfiri group operating in Syria and Iraq released a video a video apparently showing the beheading of an American journalist kidnapped in Syria, as it warned the US against strikes against the Qaeda-affiliated group.

The video posted on the Internet Tuesday showed a masked militant beheading a man resembling James Foley, who has been missing since he was seized in Syria in November 2012.

ISIL also threatened to kill another US reporter if bombings did not stop.
In the nearly five-minute video, titled "A Message to America" and distributed online by known ISIL sources, the group declares that Foley was killed because President Barack Obama ordered air strikes against ISIL in northern Iraq.

The execution is carried out in an open desert area with no immediate signs as to whether it is in Iraq or Syria by a black-clad masked militant who speaks English with a British accent.

Foley is seen kneeling on the ground, dressed in an orange outfit that resembles those worn by prisoners held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

"Any aggression towards the Islamic State is an aggression towards Muslims from all walks of life who have accepted the Islamic caliphate as their leadership," the masked militant declares.

He threatens to kill another man shown in the video and said to be Steven Sotloff, whose kidnapping in August 2013 has not been widely reported.

The White House said US intelligence was studying the video, and that Obama had been briefed on it as he flew from Washington to resume his vacation on Martha's Vineyard.

"If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.

Foley was an experienced correspondent who had covered the war in Libya before heading to Syria to follow the crisis there, contributing to news site GlobalPost, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and other media outlets.