ISIL threat to Britons: UK premier

“As I have said consistently over the last few weeks, ISIL terrorists speak for no religion. They threaten Syrians, Iraqis, Americans and British people alike and make no distinction between Muslims, Christians or any other faith,” David Cameron said in statement on Tuesday.

Last month, the White House confirmed the authenticity of a gruesome footage showing the decapitation of US journalist James Foley by the ISIL in retaliation for US airstrikes against the Takfiri group in Iraq. The video also warned that the group would slay Steven Sotloff, who was being held hostage by the militants, if the US president did not halt the airstrikes.

ISIL has executed Sotloff and posted the video displaying his beheading on the Internet, the SITE Intelligence Group, a research organization that tracks terrorist web postings, said on Tuesday.

In the video, the ISIL also threatens to kill David Haines, a British citizen.

“If verified, this is a despicable and barbaric murder,” Cameron said, adding that he would hold a Cobra emergency meeting on Wednesday to “review these latest developments.”

The British government would do all it could to protect its people from the ISIL terrorists, the UK premier noted.

The ISIL is in control of a large swathe of northeastern Syria as well as some territory in Iraq, where they have been committing heinous crimes, including the mass execution of civilians and Iraqi security forces.

Britain has openly supported the militancy in Syria to help topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad. At least 500 British nationals have travelled from the country to fight in Syria and Iraq, though British ministers say they do not know the exact number.

HK