A masked Islamic State militant speaks next to a man purported to be US journalist Steven Sotloff at an unknown location in this still image from an undated video posted on a social media website. The video purportedly shows the beheading of US journalist James Foley, who had gone missing in Syria nearly two years ago. — Reuters

BAGHDAD — Extremists released a video apparently showing the beheading of an American journalist kidnapped in Syria, in the most direct retaliation yet to US air strikes against them in Iraq.



The video, in which the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group also threatens to kill another reporter if US air strikes in Iraq continue, sparked global outrage on Wednesday.



Posted online late Tuesday, it shows a masked militant beheading a man resembling James Foley, who has been missing since he was seized in Syria in November 2012.



News of Foley’s apparent beheading comes as US air strikes appeared to yield some results, helping Kurdish and federal forces push IS fighters back from some recently-conquered areas in northern Iraq, including the strategic Mosul dam.



According to Kurdish officers, another US air strike was carried out early Wednesday, targeting an apparent militant meeting at a school near the dam. Washington did not immediately confirm the raid.



“We have never been prouder of our son Jim. He gave his life trying to expose the world to the suffering of the Syrian people,” Foley’s mother Diane said in a Facebook message to supporters.



“We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world.”



US President Barack Obama called for a joint effort to eliminate the “cancer” of terrorists in Iraq and Syria. He said the entire world was appalled by Foley’s beheading. “There has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so it does not spread. It has to be a clear rejection of these kind of nihilistic ideologies,” the president said.



“One thing we can all agree on is that a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century,” he said.



Foley was an experienced correspondent who had covered the war in Libya before heading to Syria to follow the revolt against Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, contributing to news site GlobalPost, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and other media outlets.



AFP chairman Emmanuel Hoog described Foley “as a brave, independent and impartial journalist” whose work in Syria and other war zones was “widely admired”.



According to witnesses, Foley was seized in the northern Syrian province of Idlib on Nov. 22, 2012.



In the nearly five-minute video, titled “A Message to America,” IS declares that Foley was killed because Obama ordered air strikes against IS in northern Iraq.



The beheading 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 toward 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. — AFP