British PM Cameron calls aid worker beheading ‘pure evil’

Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday called the murder of a British hostage by Islamic State terrorists an “act of pure evil” and vowed Britain would do all in its power to bring the killers to justice.

“This is a despicable and appalling murder of an innocent aid worker. It is an act of pure evil,” he said in a statement released by his Downing Street office.

“We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes.”

US President Barack Obama expressed solidarity Saturday with its ally Britain, saying in a statement, “The United States strongly condemns the barbaric murder of UK citizen David Haines by the terrorist group ISIL,” using an alternate acronym for the group.

“The United States stands shoulder to shoulder tonight with our close friend and ally in grief and resolve.”

Islamic State extremists released a video Saturday purportedly showing the beheading of British aid worker Haines, who went missing in Syria last year.

The video emerged a day after the family of Haines issued a public plea late Friday urging his captors to contact them.

The British Foreign Office said late Saturday that it was “working urgently to verify” the video.

“If true, this is another disgusting murder,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

“We are offering the family every support possible. They ask to be left alone at this time.”

Islamic State militants have beheaded two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as Kurdish and Lebanese fighters, and posted video evidence online. At the end of the last video showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff, the Islamic State group threatened to kill Haines next and briefly showed him on camera.

In the latest video, the group threatened to kill another Briton. Both British men were dressed in orange jumpsuits against an arid Syrian landscape, similar to that seen in the Foley and Sotloff videos.

The SITE Intelligence Group, a US terrorism watchdog, reported the video, which was also posted online by users associated with the Islamic State group.

The video was entitled “A Message to the Allies of America.” Haines’ purported killer, who appeared to be the same man speaking with a British accent as in the previous videos, tells the British government that its alliance with the US will only “accelerate your destruction” and will drag the British people into “another bloody and unwinnable war”.

Haines was abducted in Syria in 2013 while working for an international aid agency.

The British government had managed to keep his kidnapping secret out of concern for his safety until the most recent video identified him as a captive.

Late Friday, the family of Haines issued a public plea urging his captors to contact them.

In a short statement released through Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the family said: “We are asking those holding David to make contact with us.”