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Fears for Scots hostage held by Islamic State

CONCERNS are mounting for the safety of a Scottish security worker following the beheading of US hostage Steven Sotloff.
By The Newsroom
Published 3rd Sep 2014, 14:27 BST
British man, known as 'Jihadi John, who has carried out both executionsBritish man, known as 'Jihadi John, who has carried out both executions
British man, known as 'Jihadi John, who has carried out both executions

Terror group Islamic State (IS) vowed to kill a British hostage in a video posted online following the killing of the American journalist.

A British terrorist known as ‘Jihadi John’ carries out the execution before the camera turns to the Scottish hostage who is dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

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The Scot, who according to reports is from Dundee, was captured by IS in March 2013 after travelling from Scotland to deliver aid in South Sudan and Syria.

The foreign office have asked UK media not to identify him.

He is believed to have been abducted near the Atmeh refugee camp on the Turkish border in Syria.

His disappearance was confirmed by a worker with Nonviolent Peaceforce who confirmed that he was working with another aid group at the time of his disappearance.

Tiffany Easthom, whose organisation is a civilian peacekeeping group, said the abducted Scot was from a military background.

She added: “A fellow he was abducted with was released a couple of months ago and we were hopeful he would be released soon.

“He was very caring, had a good sense of humour.

“He left the military and wanted to work for non-governmental organisations.

“We were really hoping he would be released and it’s not looking very positive. And that’s really sickening.”

James Foley

The Islamic State group, which has claimed wide swaths of territory across Syria and Iraq and declared itself a caliphate, said Mr Sotloff’s killing was retribution for continued US air strikes targeting its fighters in Iraq.

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It killed American journalist James Foley last month in the same manner and again threatened to kill another hostage.

Mr Sotloff, 31, who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy magazines, had last been seen in Syria in August 2013 until he appeared in a video released online last month by the IS group that showed the beheading of Mr Foley.

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit against the backdrop of an arid Syrian landscape, Mr Sotloff was threatened in that video with death unless the US stopped air strikes on the group in Iraq.

In the video distributed today and entitled “A Second Message to America,” Mr Sotloff appears in a similar jumpsuit before he was purportedly beheaded by an IS fighter.