Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq (Isis) released a video last night in which they apparently beheaded the Jewish American journalist Steven Joel Sotloff.

Mr Sotloff, who was a freelance writer for publications including Time and Foreign Policy, was abducted in Aleppo, Syria in August 2013. He was previously seen on camera last month, at the end of the video that showed the beheading of US journalist James Foley.

His apparent executioner, who was allegedly the same British-accented man accused of killing Mr Foley, told the camera: “I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant policy towards the Islamic State.

“Just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.”
Following Mr Sotloff’s appearance in last month’s video, his mother, Shirley Sotloff, a teacher at a Jewish school in Miami, released a video appeal addressed to the leader of Isis, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, begging for his release.

She said: “We have not seen Steven for more than a year and we miss him very much. We want to see him safe and sound and to hug him.”

The 31-year-old reporter, whose grandparents were Holocaust survivors, grew up in Miami and studied at the University of Central Florida.

He built his career around reporting in the Middle East and travelled to Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Turkey and Syria. He spoke Arabic fluently.

Following the release of the latest video last night, a spokesperson for his family said they were “grieving privately”.