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Update | Jihadi video shows beheading of man named as US journalist James Foley

Islamic militants say murdered man was journalist James Foley, and promise another execution unless US ends air strikes in Iraq

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US journalist James Foley on assignment in Aleppo, Syria. Photo: Reuters
Reuters

Islamic militants released a video showing the beheading of a man they said was kidnapped US journalist James Foley, and threatened to kill a second American unless President Barack Obama calls off air strikes on Iraq.

After the video was released on Tuesday, Foley's family confirmed his death in a statement posted on a Facebook page that was created to rally support for his release, saying they "have never been prouder of him".

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British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond voiced his "absolute horror" at the beheading and said the executioner in the video appeared to be British, and that work was under way to verify his background.

Foley, a 40-year-old journalist from Rochester, New Hampshire, went missing in northern Syria while freelancing for Agence France-Presse and the Boston-based GlobalPost.

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The car he was riding in was stopped by four militants in a zone that both Sunni rebel fighters and government forces had been trying to control.

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