Sad reports from AP this afternoon:
BREAKING: Internet video purports to show beheading of US reporter Steven Sotloff by Islamic State group.
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 2, 2014Journalist Steven Sotloff was pictured at the end of the video of James Foley's execution, with ISIS militants warning that he would be executed next. Sotloff went missing in Syria in August 2013.
The executioner in Sotloff's video is thought to be the same man who executed James Foley. Both speak with British accents, and in the new video, he addressed the camera saying, "I'm back."
The unidentified militant in the latest video denounces the Obama administration, saying, “I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State.”
Another hostage, David Cawthorne Haines, was threatened with beheading in the video. Haines is British.
Islamic State video issues threat against British hostage it names as David Haines: SITE
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) September 2, 2014
Sotloff's mother released a heartfelt plea to her son's captors and the head of ISIS on the TV network al-Arabiya last week.
The State Department has not yet confirmed the authenticity of the video.
UPDATE: A transcript of the video has been released.
SITE releases transcript from Steven Sotloff execution video pic.twitter.com/L5GIVdtttE
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) September 2, 2014