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British hostage David Haines executed in latest ISIS-released video

Still image from latest ISIS-released video (Photo: YouTube/The Desk)
Still image from latest ISIS-released video (Photo: YouTube/The Desk)

The group Islamic State released a new video Saturday evening that appeared to show the execution of a British aid worker held hostage in Iraq, the third such film to have been released in the past two months.
The film follows a pattern of videos released by Islamic State fighters who have executed at least two others in the past several weeks.

In the video, released under the title “A Message to the Allies of America,” a man who identifies himself as David Cawthorne Haines kneels before the camera in what appears to be a remote area of desert Syria. Next to the kneeling hostage is a masked man dressed completely in black.

Haines opens the video by delivering a message, which has been transcribed by The Desk below, addressed to British Prime Minister David Cameron:

“My name is David Cawthorne Haines. I would like to declare that I hold you, David Cameron, entirely responsible for my execution. You entered voluntarily into a coalition with the United States against the Islamic State, just as your predecessor Tony Blair did, following a trend amongst our British prime ministers who can’t find the courage to say no to the Americans. Unfortunately, it is we, the British public that, in the end, will pay the price for our Parliament’s selfish decisions.”

A short time later, the masked man delivers a message of his own:

“This British man has to pay the price for your promise, Cameron, to arm the peshmerga against the Islamic State. Ironically, he has spent a decade of his life serving under the same Royal Air Force responsible for delivering those arms. Your evil alliance with America which continues to strike the Muslims of Iraq and most recently bombed the Haditha Dam, will only accelerate your destruction, and playing the role of the obedient lapdog, Cameron, will only draw you and your people into another bloody and un-winnable war.”

The executioner is shown slicing into Haines’ throat before the camera fades to black.

At the end of the Haines video, another British man, identified as British aid worker Alan Henning, appears. The executioner threatens Henning’s life if British forces “persist in fighting the Islamic State.”

The authenticity of the video has not been confirmed by U.S. government officials, though the production value is similar to other Islamic State releases that showed the executions of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Both the Foley and Sotloff videos were confirmed by government officials as authentic within days of their release.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys covers the business of broadcast and streaming TV, radio broadcasting, social media, technology and telecommunications. A journalist for over 15 years, Matthew previously worked at Thomson Reuters, KGO-TV in San Francisco, KTXL in Sacramento and McNaughton Newspapers. He received 9 California Journalism Awards between 2018 and 2020, and is a member of IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors).
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