Islamic State (ISIS) militants apologized after releasing a gruesome video that purports to show the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff – but did not apologize for the savage slaying.
Chatter on ISIS forums indicated the video release was an unintentional leak from within terror group circles, New York-based news website
Vocativ reported – and the mea culpa was for breaking an embargo.
The apology, posted in Arabic,
appeared on Justpaste, reported Vocativ, which put up a translation:
"A clarification about the mistake was made by 'Uyun al-Ummah' account, that has published the video before the official time. The user saw a tweet with the video and thought it was published officially. We tried to remove the video after we understood that his was published by mistake, and we are sorry to the followers of the Islamic State."
The ISIS-affiliated Twitter account that posted the video ahead of time is now suspended, Vocativ reported. Another ISIS-affiliated account,
@Khattabyaz, pointed out the error, but the warning came too late, Vocativ reported.
In the video, Sotloff says he is "paying the price" for the U.S. government's decision to strike ISIS targets in Iraq. A masked fighter with a British accent, who is thought to have appeared in the video of American journalist James Foley's beheading on Aug. 19, also stands beside Sotloff.
"I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy toward the Islamic State," he intones.
Some Western intelligence officials have said they thought Sotloff may have been executed on the same day as Foley, and that ISIS had decided to space out the publicity, the
Sydney Morning Herald reported.
But, the Herald notes, the most recent video shows Sotloff with a small beard and some hair on his head, unlike the Aug. 19 video, in which he's clean-shaven and nearly bald.
The SITE Intelligence Group, a research organization that tracks jihadist web postings, said ISIS was threatening to behead a third captive, Briton David Cawthorne Haines.
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