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New reports claim that President Barack Obama wrote a secret letter to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, describing a shared interest in fighting Islamic State (ISIS).
The letter, reported by the Wall Street Journal, urges Ayatollah Ali Khamenei toward a nuclear agreement.
Barack Obama stresses any co-operation on fighting ISIS is contingent on Iran reaching such an agreement by a November 24 diplomatic deadline.
The White House has declined to comment on Barack Obama’s “private correspondence”.
The letter, sent last month, is at least the fourth time Barack Obama has written to the Iranian leader since taking office in 2009 and underscores his view that Iran is important in an emerging campaign against ISIS.
President Barack Obama is said to have written a secret letter to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Officials with the Obama administration have, in recent days, placed the chances for a deal on Iran’s nuclear program at only 50-50, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to begin negotiations on the issue with Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif this weekend in Oman.
World powers suspect Iran of trying to make a nuclear bomb, a claim it denies.
An interim deal agreed late last year gave Iran some relief from sanctions in return for curbs on nuclear activity.
However, talks later stalled on the extent of uranium enrichment Iran would be allowed and on the timetable for sanctions to be lifted.
On November 6, White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to comment directly on the secret letter.
“I can tell you that the policy that the president and his administration have articulated about Iran remains unchanged,” he said in response to questions.
Also on November 6, Republican speaker of the House John Boehner said he did not trust Iran’s leaders and said they should not be brought into the fight against ISIS.
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ISIS militants have killed at least 50 members of an Iraqi tribe in western Anbar province, officials and tribal leaders say.
The men and women from the Al Bu Nimr tribe are reported to have been lined up and shot in retaliation for resisting the jihadists.
A number of people from the same tribe were also found dead in mass graves earlier this week.
ISIS militants control large areas of Iraq and neighboring Syria.
Meanwhile, AFP news agency quoted the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying that at least 100 ISIS fighters had been killed in three days of fighting for the strategic Syrian border town of Kobane.
On October 31, some 150 Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters crossed from Turkey to join Syrian Kurds who have been defending the town against ISIS for six weeks.
The Observatory says that more than 950 people have died in the battle, more than half of them from IS.
A local official told the Associated Press news agency that the Sunni Muslim tribesmen and women were killed on October 31 in the village of Ras al-Maa, north of the provincial capital Ramadi.
Faleh al-Issawi said many members of the tribe had to flee their homes near the town of Hit last month when it was captured by ISIS.
ISIS militants control large areas of Iraq and neighboring Syria
The Al Bu Nimr tribe had joined the Shia-dominated government’s campaign against ISIS.
There have been many other such killings, as pressure mounts on the tribes to swing one way or the other.
Analysts say mass killings are also a very deliberate strategy by ISIS to spread terror in their opponents.
One local official, Sabah Karhout, described the killings in Anbar province as a crime against humanity and called for more international support for Sunni tribes fighting the militants in Anbar.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the killing of Sunni tribesmen in Iraq by Islamic State fighters was the brutal “reality of what we’re dealing with” in the conflict.
The US carried out an air drop of food supplies, the first of its kind, to the Al Bu Nimr tribe just a few days ago.
ISIS has taken over large parts of Anbar province as it expands its territory, currently about one-third of both Iraq and Syria.
Islamic State (ISIS) has killed two Iraqi journalists in the past four days, Reporters Without Borders says.
Mohanad al-Akidi, the correspondent for the Sada news agency in the ISIS-held northern Iraqi city of Mosul, was shot dead at the Ghazlani base on October 13.
He was abducted in July while he travelled to Dohuk province.
On October 10, Raad Mohamed al-Azzawi, a cameraman for Sama Salah Aldeen TV, was beheaded by IS militants in the city of Samarra. He had been held for a month.
Reporters Without Borders, which promotes and defends world media freedom, said it was “horrified by the jihadist group’s constant crimes of violence”.
“Islamic State is pursuing a policy of indiscriminate criminal violence that shows no pity towards journalists and does not hesitate to kidnap, torture and murder them,” said its program director, Lucie Morillon.
Islamic State militants has killed two Iraqi journalists in the past four days
“Media personnel need the support and protection of the local authorities more than ever,” she added.
The vast majority of foreign journalists have fled the large parts of Iraq and Syria controlled by ISIS because of the danger, leaving local reporters to document events.
ISIS has beheaded the American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff in the past two months, and is holding the British journalist John Cantlie, who has appeared in a series of propaganda videos.
Earlier this month, ISIS issued guidelines for journalists operating in the Syrian province of Deir al-Zour.
They were told to swear allegiance as “subjects of the Islamic State”, submit stories for approval, and inform the group of any social media accounts. Anyone violating the guidelines will be “held accountable”.
Reporters Without Borders said Raad Mohamed al-Azzawi had been threatened with death by ISIS in September because he refused to work for the group.
According to new reports, at least 553 people are said to have died in a month in the Kurdish town of Kobane, Syria, under Islamic State (ISIS) attack.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based Syrian opposition body which monitors the conflict, counted 298 IS fighters among the dead.
US aircraft have bombed ISIS positions as Kurdish fighters cling on to the town’s vital border crossing with Turkey.
However, the defenders say they are outgunned on the ground.
“The supply of fighters is very good…” Kobane official Idris Nassan told Reuters news agency.
“But fighters coming without arms, without weaponry, is not going to make a critical difference.”
Correspondents watched from just over the border in Turkey on Saturday, October 11, as fighting raged for the town.
Turkey, wary of its recent long conflict with its own large Kurdish population, has ruled out any unilateral ground intervention.
Some 200,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees have crossed the border since the ISIS advance began nearly a month ago.
At least 553 people are said to have died in a month of fighting for Kobane
Meanwhile, fighting has continued in Iraq, where ISIS overran large parts of the north during the summer.
According to the Observatory, the true figure for deaths in the siege of Kobane could be more than 1,100 since the ISIS attack began on September 16.
Of the deaths it has been able to document, 226 are of Kurdish fighters and nine are of other Syrian opposition fighters, who were fighting on their side.
Of the 20 civilian deaths recorded, 17 were victims of ISIS executions, it said.
Kobane resounded to small-arms fire and explosions on Saturday following the failure of a pre-dawn ISIS offensive to take more ground.
According to the Pentagon, US air strikes on ISIS targets at Kobane since October 10 have hit an ISIS fighting position; damaged a command and control facility; destroyed a staging building; struck two small units of fighters; and destroyed three lorries.
Idris Nassan said the air strikes had helped the Kurdish fighters regain some territory in the south of the city but they were not enough.
“A few days ago, [ISIS] attacked with a Humvee vehicle, they use mortars, cannons, tanks,” he said.
“We don’t need just Kalashnikovs and bullets. We need something effective since they captured many tanks and military vehicles in Iraq.”
In Europe, at least 20,000 Kurds living in Germany marched in the city of Duesseldorf on Saturday to highlight the threat to Kurds in Kobane.
At a smaller rally in the Austrian town of Bregenz, two people were stabbed and seriously wounded when Kurdish protesters clashed with a rival demonstration, said to involve Turks and Chechens.
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According to a former cellmate, American hostage Abdul-Rahman Kassig, known as Peter Kassig before he converted to Islam, is now a “dedicated Muslim”.
Peter Kassig, an aid worker, was kidnapped in Syria by the so-called Islamic State.
Abdul-Rahman Kassig, 26, always cut a slightly unworldly figure on the Turkish-Syrian border: open, honest, slightly intense, beguiled by Syria’s uprising and motivated by the simple desire to help people. It didn’t surprise me when his parents later spoke about him “searching for his place in the world”.
Peter Kassig found that place giving medical training to Syrians, teaching skills that probably saved a number of lives. It was a job with many risks: bullets and bombs; air strikes and kidnapping.
“The last time I saw him,” said a Syrian colleague, Dr. Anas Mulla, “I asked: Aren’t you scared for your life? He said: My life isn’t worth more than all of yours.”
Going to Deir Azour in northern Syria a year ago, Abdul-Rahman was seized by the group calling itself Islamic State. They have said he will be the next Western hostage to die.
The French journalist Nicholas Henin was held with Abdul-Rahman Kassig for four months – before being freed along with the other French hostages.
“The beginning of his detention had been a bit hard,” Nicolas Henin said of his former cellmate.
“He was quite affected by his captivity.”
Abdul-Rahman Kassig was known as Peter Kassig before he converted to Islam
Nicolas Hennin spoke to me in Paris. Taxis trundled by on a cobbled street outside as he described the mixture of hunger, boredom and terror experienced by the Western hostages.
“The routine was mostly waiting for food, because we never received enough. And Abdul-Rahman was basically sharing all of his food but looking for sweets. He was always looking for some extra marmalade.”
Shortly after being kidnapped, Peter Kassig converted and now uses the Muslim name Abdul-Rahman.
“When I first met him, he was introducing himself already to all the guards as Abdul-Rahman,” said Nicolas Henin.
“Peter told me about how important Islam was to him, how much it helped to overcome his situation in captivity. And he was a very dedicated Muslim. He gave me the impression that he was a bit fragile, but that Islam was strengthening him.”
Abdul-Rahman Kassig wasn’t the only Western hostage to become a Muslim.
“In our group of hostages there were a few who converted. They were practicing … the five daily prayers and they would even sometimes perform two extra prayers…They would fast on Mondays and Thursdays, which is extra [to what is mandated] … like … dedicated Muslims.”
That was an elliptical reference to the stories about the hostages being beaten and even tortured.
He continued: “For some guards, there would be more respect to those of us who had converted. But for other captors, I had the feeling that it made no difference.”
Abdul-Rahman Kassig managed to get a letter out to his family. In it, he wrote: “In terms of my faith, I pray every day and I am not angry about my situation in that sense. I am in a dogmatically complicated situation here, but I am at peace with my belief.”
His parents interpret that as a statement he is now Muslim. They hope desperately that his faith will save him.
His family must hope that “Peter Kassig” becoming “Abdul-Rahman Kassig” may help. They will also be painfully aware that Islamic State has not hesitated to kill many Muslims – Iraqis and Syrians – in the course of their bloody campaign.
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The FBI is seeking the American public’s help in identifying a masked man who appears in an Islamic State (ISIS) video.
Dressed in desert camouflage and wearing a shoulder holster, officials believe the jihadist betrays a North American accent as he speaks English and Arabic.
FBI director James Comey says about a dozen Americans are fighting with ISIS.
“In releasing a segment from the video, the FBI hopes someone might recognize the man through his voice and appearance,” the agency said.
It has put a clip of the video on its website, with details of how the public can help.
FBI officials believe the masked man in ISIS video betrays a North American accent as he speaks English and Arabic
In parts of the video not shown in that segment, the militant stands over men he says are Syrian soldiers who have been taken prisoner at a base in Raqqa province, and are being made to dig their own graves.
He threatens them with execution before the men are shown being killed.
ISIS militants have seized huge swathes of Iraq and Syria and are now being bombarded by US-led air strikes.
Intelligence officials in many Western countries have expressed fears that foreign recruits to the cause of IS could return from the fighting to launch attacks at home.
“We need the public’s assistance in identifying US persons going to fight overseas with terrorist groups or who are returning home from fighting overseas,” said Michael Steinbach, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.
On October 4, a 19-year-old man in Chicago was arrested for allegedly attempting to travel overseas to join ISIS.
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Peter Kassig’s parents have released a letter he has written in captivity.
Peter Edward Kassig, 26, is an American hostage who is being held by Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria.
He converted to Islam in 2013, changing his name to Abdul-Rahman Kassig.
Abdul-Rahman Kassig wrote in June 2014 that he was “scared to die” and saddened by the pain his ordeal was causing to the family.
Last week ISIS posted a video showing the killing of British hostage Alan Henning. The video ended with a threat to kill Peter Kassig.
It was the fourth such video released by ISIS, which controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq.
Previous victims were American reporter James Foley, American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff and British aid worker David Haines.
ISIS said they were killed in retaliation for US-led air strikes on the group’s targets.
Peter Edward Kassig is being held by ISIS militants in Syria
Peter Kassig’s parents, Ed and Paula Kassig, said they had decided to release excerpts from their son’s letter “so the world can understand why we and so many people care for him and admire him”.
“We want to send our heartfelt thanks to the many people around the world who have offered their prayers and support to our family at this difficult time, and especially to those who know our son and worked with him in Lebanon, Turkey or Syria. We are overwhelmed by the response from those who consider Abdul-Rahman a hero for the work he was doing before he was taken captive.”
In the letter, Abdul-Rahman Kassig wrote: “I am obviously pretty scared to die but the hardest part is not knowing, wondering, hoping, and wondering if I should even hope at all.
“I am very sad that all this has happened and for what all of you back home are going through.
“If I do die, I figure that at least you and I can seek refuge and comfort in knowing that I went out as a result of trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need.
“In terms of my faith, I pray every day and I am not angry about my situation in that sense.”
The letter – which the parents received on June 2 – ends with the words: “I love you.”
Peter Kassig’s parents said he had been working for the relief organization he founded, Special Emergency Response and Assistance (SERA), when he was captured on his way to Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria in 2013.
In a statement they said their son’s “journey toward Islam” had begun before he was taken captive but they understood he had converted voluntarily late last year while sharing a cell with a devout Muslim.
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The parents of American hostage Peter Kassig have appealed to Islamic State (ISIS) militants to “show mercy” and release him.
In a video statement, Ed and Paula Kassig said they were proud of their son and the aid work he had done.
The statement follows the release of a video by the militant group on October 3, which showed the killing of British aid worker Alan Henning.
That video ended with a threat to kill 26-year-old Peter Kassig.
It was the fourth such video released by the ISIS group.
Previous victims were American reporter James Foley, American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff and British aid worker David Haines.
It is believed Peter Kassig changed his given name to Abdul-Rahman and converted to Islam while in captivity
Peter Kassig’s parents said he had been working for the relief organization he founded, Special Emergency Response and Assistance (SERA), when he was captured a year ago on his way to Deir Ezzour in eastern Syria.
In their appeal, they said: “As Muslims around the world, including our son Abdul-Rahman Kassig, celebrate Eid al-Adha, the faith and sacrifice of Ibrahim, and the mercy of Allah, we appeal to those holding our son to show the same mercy and set him free.”
It is believed Peter Kassig changed his given name to Abdul-Rahman and converted to Islam while in captivity.
The family has heard from former hostages that his faith has provided him comfort.
ISIS militants may hold many more hostages.
On October 3, the father of John Cantlie, a British photojournalist held by the group, appealed for his release in a video, describing his son as a friend of Syria.
The ISIS group has its roots in al-Qaeda’s Iraqi affiliate but was expelled over its brutal tactics and refusal to obey orders to confine its activities to Iraq.
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Islamic State (ISIS) militants have released a video purporting to show the killing of British hostage Alan Henning.
Taxi driver Alan Henning, 47, was delivering aid to Syria in December when he was kidnapped then held hostage by ISIS.
ISIS had threatened to kill Alan Henning in a video showing the killing of Briton David Haines last month.
The UK Foreign Office said it was trying to verify the video, and if true it was a “further disgusting murder”.
On September 30, Alan Henning’s wife Barbara appealed for his release, saying: “He is innocent.”
ISIS has previously released videos showing the apparent killings of two US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and Briton David Haines.
The video released on October 3 is yet to be verified, but it appears to show Alan Henning kneeling beside a militant, dressed in black, in a desert setting.
The footage ends with an ISIS fighter threatening a man they identify as an American.
The UK Foreign Office said in a statement: “We are aware of the video and are working urgently to verify the contents.
Alan Henning was delivering aid to Syria in December 2013 when he was kidnapped then held hostage by ISIS
“If true, this is a further disgusting murder.
“We are offering the family every support possible; they ask to be left alone at this time.”
Earlier this week Barbara Henning had asked for “mercy” for her husband, saying his family was continuing their attempts to communicate with the group.
She also she had received an audio message of her husband pleading for his life.
“Muslims across the globe continue to question Islamic State over Alan’s fate,” she said.
Barbara Henning had said some people thought her husband was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but she said: “He was in the right place doing the right thing.”
She said her family was “at a loss” as to why ISIS leaders could not “open their hearts and minds to the truth about Alan’s humanitarian motives for going to Syria”.
Last month, two high-profile imams in the UK made a direct appeal to ISIS to release Alan Henning.
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In a recent video, John Cantlie’s father, Paul Cantlie, has appealed for the British hostage release.
Journalist John Cantlie, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 and is being held by Islamic State (ISIS) militants, has so far appeared in three videos.
From hospital, Paul Cantlie said he felt “great relief” seeing his son for the first time in two years, but also experienced “despair and helplessness”.
His family has been trying to deliver an “important message” to ISIS, Paul Cantlie added.
The videos have all followed the same format, with John Cantlie, who is originally from Hampshire, appearing sitting at a desk against a black backdrop to address the camera.
In the most recent, released earlier this week, John Cantlie delivered a scripted message mocking the US strategy of using air strikes combined with local ground forces.
At the end of the five-and-a-half minute film, John Cantlie indicated there will be further messages.
There are no signs of violence in the videos but, in the first, John Cantlie made clear he was speaking as a prisoner whose life was in danger.
Paul Cantlie said: “For the first time in almost two years, we saw John when he made a televised broadcast during which he told viewers that he was still a prisoner of the Islamic State and that maybe he will live and maybe he will die.
“As a family we experienced great relief seeing and hearing John and knowing that he is alive. This was followed by the feeling of despair and helplessness.”
John Cantlie’s father, Paul Cantlie, has appealed for the British hostage release from his hospital bed
Paul Cantlie said when his son was captured in northern Syria while working as a photojournalist, he was “seeking out the true story of the suffering of the Syrian people”.
“John felt a strong need to help in the best way that he could,” he said.
“As an impartial and respected journalist he knew that he could make a difference by acting as a platform for the world to listen to and take notice, using his journalistic skills for the good of the people, as a friend and as a civilian.”
The Cantlie family is trying to communicate with ISIS “to deliver an important message regarding John” but has yet to receive a response, said his father.
In a direct message to the militants, Paul Cantlie said: “To those holding John: please know that he is a good man, he sought only to help the Syrian people and I ask you from all that is sacred, to help us and allow him to return home safely to those he loves and who love him.”
He said his family had received “many messages” of support.
“Speaking entirely for myself, this is not how I had imagined I would be passing my 81st year,” he added.
“I want John to know how very proud I am of him. I can think of no greater joy than seeing my dear son released and allowed to return home to us.”
John Cantlie – an experienced journalist and photographer – has twice been held captive in neighboring Syria.
He was kidnapped in July 2012, and handcuffed and blindfolded for a week, but escaped with the help from the Free Syrian Army.
A second kidnap happened when he returned to Syria towards the end of 2012.
ISIS has taken control of large areas of Syria and Iraq and declared a caliphate.
Since August, the Islamist group has killed three Western hostages – US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid worker David Haines. They have also threatened to kill British hostage Alan Henning.
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ISIS militants have released a third video featuring British hostage John Cantlie.
Journalist John Cantlie delivers a scripted message responding to President Barack Obama’s recent speech on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The script mocks the US’s strategy of employing air power combined with local ground forces.
John Cantlie appears sat at a desk against a black backdrop, following the same format as in previous videos.
The message ends with a comment by him that Islamic State (ISIS) says it welcomes meeting with what is described as President Barack Obama’s under-construction army.
There are no signs of violence in the video but in the first of these messages John Cantlie made clear he was speaking as a prisoner whose life was in danger.
John Cantlie, an experienced journalist and photographer, has twice been held captive in Syria
At the end of the five-and-a-half minute film he indicates there will be further messages.
The video comments on Barack Obama’s speech: “It was all disappointingly predictable; America is good, the Islamic State is bad; and they will be defeated using aircraft and a motley collection of fighters on the ground. For their part the Islamic State say they welcome meeting Obama’s under-construction army.”
John Cantlie, an experienced journalist and photographer, has twice been held captive in Syria.
He was kidnapped in July 2012, and handcuffed and blindfolded for a week, but escaped with the help from the Free Syrian Army.
A second kidnap happened when he returned to Syria towards the end of 2012.
Islamic State – also known as ISIL – has taken control of large areas of Syria and Iraq and declared a caliphate.
Since August, ISIS has filmed and posted online the deaths of three Western hostages who were beheaded.
They were American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid worker David Haines.
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Iraqi air strikes and ground forces appear to have halted the advance of Islamic State (ISIS) militants in the town of Amariya al-Falluja, west of Baghdad.
The air strikes followed clashes with ISIS militants, who have been making gains towards the capital.
Amariya al-Falluja, 25 miles from Baghdad, is a key strategic town.
It comes as a US-led coalition continues to carry out air strikes on ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq.
The area around Amariya al-Falluja is now said to be calm, but there is a standoff along the main road to Falluja to the north, which is controlled by ISIS.
US aircraft also attacked other ISIS positions in Anbar province overnight, the Pentagon said.
Meanwhile, Turkish tanks have taken up positions on a hill along the border near the Syrian town of Kobane after several shells hit Turkish territory during clashes between ISIS militants and Kurdish fighters.
Iraqi air strikes and ground forces appear to have halted the advance of ISIS militants in the town of Amariya al-Falluja
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria, said ISIS fighters were now within 3 miles of Kobane, the closest they have come since launching an offensive this month.
The jihadists also fired at least 15 rockets at the town centre, killing at least one person, it added.
Overnight, there were US-led air strikes on ISIS-controlled towns and villages in northern and eastern Syria.
One raid on a grain silo in Manbij, in Aleppo province, left several civilians dead, the Syrian Observatory’s director Rami Abdul Rahman reported.
The entrance to the Conoco gas plant, Syria’s largest, was also reportedly hit. The facility itself was not thought to be damaged.
In a television interview on September 28, President Barack Obama candidly admitted the US had “underestimated” the threat of IS.
Barack Obama said a political solution – one that would arise out of an accommodation between Sunni and Shia populations – was key to defeating the jihadists.
The US and Arab allies’ airstrikes have hit four makeshift oil refineries under Islamic State (ISIS) control in Syria, as well as a command centre.
Early indications were that the attacks by US, Saudi and UAE planes were successful, US Central Command said.
Explosions at a refinery at Tel Abyad, near the Turkish border, lit up the night sky, an eyewitness watching from across the frontier said.
Meanwhile further fighting was reported in the besieged border town of Kobane.
There was no repetition on Sunday of coalition airstrikes on ISIS positions in the area, where Syrian Kurd fighters have been holding out against the militants.
The ISIS advance in the area sent about 140,000 civilians fleeing towards Turkey.
US-led coalition aircraft have targeted four makeshift oil refineries under ISIS control in Syria
An initial wave of coalition air attacks on Thursday, the third day of the air campaign against ISIS in Syria, targeted 12 refineries.
According to the Pentagon, small-scale mobile refineries used by IS in Syria generate up to $2 million per day in revenue for the militants.
The US-led coalition of about 40 countries, including Arab states, has vowed to destroy IS, which controls large parts of north-eastern Syria and northern Iraq.
The group’s brutal tactics, including mass killings, beheadings and abductions of members of religious and ethnic minorities, triggered the international intervention.
Al-Nusra Front, a fellow Islamist militant group in Syria, has denounced the air strikes as “a war against Islam” and called on jihadists around the world to target Western and Arab countries involved.
“Although we continue to assess the outcome of these attacks, initial indications are that they were successful,” US Central Command said after Sunday’s strikes.
Blasts at the Tel Abyad refinery around 02:30 local time sent flames soaring 200ft into the sky, Turkish businessman Mehmet Ozer, who lives in the nearby Turkish town of Akcakale, told AP news agency.
They continued for two hours, rocking the building from which he was watching, Mehmet Ozer said.
Both the refinery and the local ISIS headquarters were bombed, Turkey’s Dogan news agency said.
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The FBI has announced it has identified the militant in the videos depicting the killings of two US journalists and a British aid worker.
However, FBI Director James Comey says the agency will not yet release the name of Islamic State fighter, so-called Jihadi John, who seemed to speak with a British accent.
UK Foreign Minister Philip Hammond told CNN this week they were “getting warm” on the identity of the masked man.
Jihadi John appears in Steven Sotloff’s killing video (photo Reuters)
James Comey did not say whether the man identified carried out the killings.
He said the FBI was able to identify him with the help of international partners.
American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker David Haines, have all been killed alongside a masked man dressed in black holding a knife, who speaks to the camera.
The life of another British citizen, Alan Henning, was threatened in the last video.
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New US and coalition airstrikes have targeted ISIS-held oil refineries in Syria.
The raids killed 14 ISIS fighters and five civilians in eastern Syria, activists said.
The US military said the refineries generated as much as $2 million per day in revenue for ISIS.
President Barack Obama has vowed to dismantle the ISIS “network of death”.
ISIS has seized large areas of Syria and Iraq in recent months and controls several oilfields. Sales of smuggled crude oil have helped finance its offensive in both countries.
The US has launched nearly 200 air strikes against the militants in Iraq since August and expanded the operation against ISIS to Syria on September 22.
On September 24, the UN Security Council adopted a binding resolution compelling states to prevent their nationals joining jihadists in Iraq and Syria.
New US and coalition airstrikes have targeted ISIS-held oil refineries in Syria (photo Reuters)
President Barack Obama chaired the session and said nations must prevent the recruitment and financing of foreign fighters.
The US military said the fresh air strikes, using fighter jets and drones, hit “small-scale” refineries that were producing “between 300-500 barrels of refined petroleum per day”.
“We are still assessing the outcome of the attack on the refineries, but have initial indications that the strikes were successful,” the US Central Command said in a statement.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that monitors the Syrian conflict, said the strikes killed 14 ISIS fighters in Deir al-Zour and five civilians in Hassakeh.
The US says more than 40 countries have offered to join the anti-ISIS coalition.
France said its fighter jets were carrying out air strikes in Iraq again on Thursday, a day after the beheading of a French hostage in Algeria by an IS-linked jihadist group.
The French military has been carrying out air strikes in Iraq since last week but has not taken part in anti-IS operations in Syria.
On September 24, the Dutch government said it was deploying six F-16 fighter to join the US-led air campaign.
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Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, President Barack Obama has urged the world to help dismantle the Islamic State’s (ISIS) “network of death”.
Meanwhile US warplanes stepped up air strikes against ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria.
“There can be no reasoning – no negotiation – with this brand of evil,” Barack Obama said.
The US president said more than 40 countries had offered to join the anti-IS coalition. ISIS aims to set up a hardline caliphate.
The well-armed Sunni Muslim militants have seized a huge swathe of Syria and Iraq, forcing whole communities to flee in terror. They have beheaded Western hostages and have persecuted Christians, Yazidis and Shia Muslims, whom they treat as heretics.
US warplanes hit ISIS vehicles and arms dumps in new air strikes, the US military’s Central Command said.
Eight ISIS vehicles were damaged near Abu Kamal on the Syria-Iraq border, and two others in Deir al-Zour in the east of Syria, the statement said.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, President Barack Obama has urged the world to help dismantle the ISIS network of death (photo Reuters)
In Iraq there were strikes on IS targets west of Baghdad and southeast of Irbil, near Kurdish territory.
Earlier there were air strikes on ISIS near the border with Turkey.
“The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force,” Barack Obama said.
The US “will work with a broad coalition to dismantle this network of death,” he told the UN.
“In this effort, we do not act alone. Nor do we intend to send US troops to occupy foreign lands. Instead, we will support Iraqis and Syrians fighting to reclaim their communities. We will use our military might in a campaign of air strikes to roll back ISIL [ISIS].
“We will train and equip forces fighting against these terrorists on the ground. We will work to cut off their financing, and to stop the flow of fighters into and out of the region. Already, over 40 nations have offered to join this coalition. Today, I ask the world to join in this effort.”
Barack Obama urged Muslims to reject the ideology of ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Syrian activists reported air strikes around the Kurdish town of Kobane near Turkey, which has been besieged by ISIS fighters for several days.
Witnesses saw two military aircraft approaching from Turkey but Turkish officials denied its airspace or bases had been used in the attack.
The US-led coalition expanded its raids against IS into Syria on Monday. The US said Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar had all “participated in or supported” the strikes.
However, the aerial bombardment near Kobane, which happened at about 01:00 local time, has not been confirmed by the US or any coalition member.
Turkish military sources said neither its air force nor the US airbase at Incirlik in southern Turkey had been used.
The US has launched nearly 200 air strikes against ISIS in Iraq since August.
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French tourist Herve Gourdel, who was seized by in Algeria on September 21, has been killed, according to a video released by jihadist group Jund al-Khilafa.
Militant group Jund al-Khilafa had set a 24-hour deadline on September 23 for France to halt air strikes in Iraq.
Herve Gourdel, 55, was abducted in the north-east Kabylie region.
Herve Gourdel was abducted by Jund al-Khilafa in the north-east Kabylie region (photo Facebook)
France joined the US last week in launching air strikes on Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Iraq but did not take part in the strikes on IS in Syria.
French President Francois Hollande and PM Manuel Valls, publicly rejected the group’s ultimatum on September 23.
The video of Herve Gourdel apparently being killed was entitled Message of blood for the French government, reports said.
ISIS itself has beheaded three Western hostages since August: US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker David Haines. Their deaths were all filmed and posted online.
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The US and five Arab allies – Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – have launched the first strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria.
The Pentagon said warplanes, drones and Tomahawk missiles were used in the attacks, which targeted several areas including ISIS stronghold Raqqa.
Syria’s foreign ministry said its UN envoy was informed about the strikes against IS, which controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The US has already launched about 190 air strikes in Iraq since August.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm John Kirby confirmed the operation, saying “US military and partner nation forces” had undertaken military action in Syria.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the Sunni Arab countries “participated in or supported” the strikes.
It said a total of 14 strikes destroyed or damaged IS training compounds, command and control facilities, vehicles and storage sites.
The US military will continue to conduct air strikes against IS targets in Iraq and Syria, it added.
Separately, CENTCOM said US forces also attacked a network of al-Qaeda veterans named Khorasan who had established a safe haven west of Aleppo and were plotting imminent attacks against the West.
The Syrian government has not formally consented to the air strikes on its territory. However, it says it was informed before they took place.
The US and five Arab allies have launched the first strikes against ISIS militants in Syria
The strikes targeted Raqqa, an IS stronghold in eastern Syria the group captured in 2013, and the cities of Deir al-Zour, Hassakeh and Abu Kamal.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists on the ground, said more than 20 militants were killed in two strikes on ISIS positions in Raqqa.
It also said 30 al-Qaeda-linked fighters and 8 civilians, including three children, were killed in strikes west of Aleppo.
Jordan said its “air force jets destroyed a number of targets that belong to some terrorist groups that sought to commit terror acts inside Jordan”.
Analysts say it is significant that countries with a Sunni majority, like Jordan and Saudi Arabia, are among those supporting US efforts against IS.
ISIS members are jihadists who adhere to an extreme interpretation of Sunni Islam and consider themselves the only true believers.
The US and allies including the UK have ruled out co-operating against ISIS with Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, whom they accuse of responsibility for huge numbers of civilian deaths during Syria’s civil war.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said last month that any US action would be “considered aggression” unless it was co-ordinated with Syria.
Hadi al-Bahra, president of the National Coalition, Syria’s main opposition alliance, welcomed the military action but said “strikes alone cannot defeat extremism for good.”
“The long-term solution is moderate, inclusive Syrian governance that prevents the resurgence of extremism,” he said in a statement.
Islamic State has taken control of large areas of Syria and Iraq, imposed a harsh brand of Islam, and declared a caliphate.
The group, which the CIA says could have as many as 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, has executed captive soldiers, aid workers and journalists, and threatened the mass killing of Iraqi religious minorities.
The ISIS advance in northern Syria has created a refugee crisis in neighboring Turkey, with about 130,000 Kurdish refugees crossing the border at the weekend.
Most refugees are from Kobane, a Syrian town close to the Turkish border that is under siege by IS militants.
Before the latest influx, there were already more than one million Syrian refugees in Turkey.
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A French tourist has been kidnapped while on holiday in eastern Algeria, the French foreign ministry has confirmed.
The man was seized on Sunday, September 21, in the restive Tizi Ouzou region in the east, the ministry said.
It did not confirm the authenticity of a video posted on the internet purporting to show the man reading out a statement.
In the video, the man calls on French President Francois Hollande not to intervene in Iraq.
Earlier, militants from the Islamic State (ISIS) group warned they would target France – and other countries – after it launched air strikes against them in Iraq.
ISIS militants warned they would target France after it launched air strikes against them in Iraq
The Algerian militant group Jund al-Khilifa, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS, said it carried out the kidnapping, AFP news agency reported, although this has not been confirmed,
An Algerian security official told AP news agency that the kidnap victim was a 55-year-old man who was hiking with two friends when he was abducted.
The area where the Frenchman was taken is a mountainous region, and there have been several kidnappings of Algerian businessmen for extortion in the area.
Most of those who were abducted were later freed by security forces, AFP said.
Al-Qaeda’s North Africa branch, AQIM, and other militant groups are known to operate in Algeria.
On September 22, France lifted the threat level for 30 of its embassies throughout the Middle East and Africa after beginning its first air strikes against IS targets in Iraq on September 19.
Turkey has decided to close some of its border crossings with Syria after about 130,000 Kurdish refugees entered the country over the weekend.
On September 21, Turkish security forces clashed with Kurds protesting in solidarity with the refugees. Some protesters were reportedly trying to go to Syria to fight Islamic State (ISIS).
Most refugees are from Kobane, a town threatened by the advancing militants.
ISIS has taken over large swathes of Iraq and Syria in recent months.
Before the latest influx, there were already more than one million Syrian refugees in Turkey. They have fled since the start of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.
Some of the new arrivals are being sheltered in overcrowded schools, as Turkey struggles to cope with the influx.
On September 19, Turkey opened a 19-mile section of the border to Syrians fleeing the town of Kobane, also known as Ayn al-Arab.
Turkey has decided to close some of its border crossings with Syria after about 130,000 Kurdish refugees entered the country over the weekend
However, on September 22, only two out of nine border posts in the area remained open, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said.
Clashes broke out on Sunday after a demonstration by Kurds on the Turkish side of the border.
Some protesters threw stones at security forces, who responded with tear gas and water cannon. There were no reports of serious injuries.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a banned militant group that fought a civil war for autonomy within Turkey for decades, has called on Kurds to join the fight against ISIS.
The Syrian conflict has reawakened old hostilities and shaken a fragile peace between Kurds and Turkish authorities.
PKK-affiliated forces have been battling IS in northern Iraq for months.
ISIS is closing in on the predominantly Kurdish town of Kobane, having seized dozens of villages in the area in recent days.
It began the assault on Tuesday, and by Sunday militants were about 6 miles away, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Reports suggest that IS has used heavy weaponry, including tanks, in the attack.
The US has said it will attack the group in Syria as part of a strategy to destroy it, though so far it has carried out air strikes against ISIS only in Iraq.
Attacking ISIS in Syria is considered more complicated, partly because of the strength of the country’s air defense system and because foreign strikes do not have the approval of President Bashar al-Assad.
President Barack Obama has previously ruled out the involvement of US ground troops, and has instead promised to provide arms and training to local forces fighting against ISIS.
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Barbara Henning, the wife of British taxi driver Alan Henning who is held hostage by Islamic State (ISIS), has pleaded with the militants to “see it in their hearts” to release him.
Alan Henning, 47, was seized while on an aid mission to Syria in December 2013.
In a statement released via the UK’s Foreign Office, Barbara Henning said her husband had been driving an ambulance stocked with food and water at the time.
Barbara Henning said she had sent messages to ISIS but had received no response.
The ISIS militants issued their threat to kill Alan Henning in a video released last Saturday, September 13, which showed the killing of another British man, David Haines.
The full statement released from the Henning family read: “I am Barbara Henning, the wife of Alan Henning.
“Alan was taken prisoner last December and is being held by the Islamic State.
“Alan is a peaceful, selfless man who left his family and his job as a taxi driver in the UK to drive in a convoy all the way to Syria with his Muslim colleagues and friends to help those most in need.
“When he was taken he was driving an ambulance full of food and water to be handed out to anyone in need. His purpose for being there was no more and no less. This was an act of sheer compassion.
The ISIS militants issued their threat to kill Alan Henning in a video released on September 13
“I cannot see how it could assist any state’s cause to allow the world to see a man like Alan dying.
“I have been trying to communicate with the Islamic State and the people holding Alan. I have sent some really important messages but they have not been responded to.
“I pray that the people holding Alan respond to my messages and contact me before it is too late.
“When they hear this message I implore the people of the Islamic State to see it in their hearts to release my husband Alan Henning.”
Alan Henning, nicknamed Gadget by the men he was travelling with, was abducted the day he arrived in Syria to help those affected by the country’s civil war.
In video footage filmed as he stopped en route in Turkey he said “no sacrifice we do is anything compared to what they’re going through every day”.
Barbara Henning’s written appeal comes a day after two high-profile imams in the UK had called for Alan’s release in a video posted on YouTube.
Haitham al-Haddad, an imam from the Islamic Sharia Council, said executing the British hostage would be “totally haram (forbidden), impermissible, prohibited according to sharia for a number of reasons”.
Shakeel Begg, imam at Lewisham Islamic Centre in south London, said he wanted to make it clear he stood “with Alan Henning” and added: “I urge you to understand the nature of this prisoner you are holding – a man of peace.”
The scholars’ appeal to release Alan Henning came after more than 100 British Muslim imam organizations and individuals expressed their “horror and revulsion” at the “senseless murder” of David Haines, and the threats to Alan Henning.
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According to Turkish officials, some 45,000 mainly Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey in the past 24 hours as Islamic State (ISIS) militants advance in northern Syria.
Turkey opened its border on September 19 to Syrians who had fled the Kurdish town of Kobane in fear of an IS attack.
Activists say some 300 Kurdish fighters have crossed into Syria from Turkey to help defend the strategic town.
ISIS controls large areas of Syria and Iraq and has seized dozens of villages around Kobane, also called Ayn al-Arab.
Turkey – which shares a border with Iraq and Syria – has taken in more than 847,000 refugees since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began three years ago.
Turkish Deputy PM Numan Kurtulmus confirmed on Saturday that 45,000 refugees had crossed the border within a 24-hour period.
“No country in the world can take in 45,000 refugees in one night, bring them here unharmed and find them a shelter without a problem,” he said.
Some 45,000 mainly Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey in the past 24 hours as ISIS militants advance in northern Syria
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 300 Kurdish fighters had joined Syrian Kurdish ranks in the Kobane area to fend off the IS advance. The activist group did not specify which Kurdish group the fighters belonged to.
“Islamic State sees Kobane like a lump in the body, they think it is in their way,” the Observatory’s Rami Abdulrahman said.
Syrian activists say IS has seized as many as 60 villages surrounding Kobane since fighting began earlier this week.
The head of Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union, Mohammed Saleh Muslim, has appealed for international assistance in the battle against the jihadists.
“Kobane is facing the fiercest and most barbaric attack in its history,” Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
“Kobane calls on all those who defend humane and democratic values… to stand by Kobane and support it immediately. The coming hours are decisive,” he added.
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Forty nine hostages seized by Islamic State (ISIS) from the Turkish consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul have been freed and are back in Turkey.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the 49 had been taken to the southern city of Sanliurfa by the Turkish intelligence agency.
Details are unclear but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it had been a “detailed and secret operation”.
The hostages were seized after ISIS militants overran Mosul in a rapid advance in June.
Turkey has refused direct involvement in the military campaign against ISIS partly because of fears over the hostages’ safety.
Deputy PM Bulent Arinc said the 49 hostages were employees from the consulate – 46 Turks and three local Iraqis – and included Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz, other diplomats, children and special forces police.
Ahmet Davutoglu said they were all in good health and that they were released early on Saturday.
“I am sharing joyful news which as a nation we have been waiting for,” he said.
PM Ahmet Davutoglu said the hostages had been taken to the southern city of Sanliurfa by the Turkish intelligence agency (photo AP)
“In the early hours our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back to our country. They have crossed into Turkey and I am on my way to see them.”
Ahmet Davutoglu was cutting short a visit to Azerbaijan to meet the released hostages.
He did not give details on the circumstances of their release but broadcaster NTV reported that Turkey had not paid a ransom. It did not say how it obtained the information.
More than 30 Turkish truck drivers, who were also seized in Mosul in June, were freed a month later but details of their release were not made public.
ISIS has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria. Estimates say the group could have up to 30,000 fighters.
The US has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the jihadists in Iraq since mid-August, supporting Iraqi government and Kurdish ground troops.
French jets carried out their first strikes on Friday, hitting an ISIS depot in north-eastern Iraq.
Also on September 19, Turkey opened a stretch of its south-eastern border to thousands of Syrian Kurds fleeing an ISIS advance.
Turkish troops had earlier blocked them from crossing, triggering angry protests from Turkish Kurds in the border village of Dikemetas.
Turkey has been under pressure from Western countries to tighten up its borders with Syria and Iraq and to stem the flow of foreign fighters joining the militants.
More than 847,000 Syrian refugees have crossed into Turkey since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.
More than 30 nations have joined a US-led coalition to take on ISIS militants, but Turkey has said it will only allow humanitarian and logistical operations from a NATO air base on its soil.
Syria and Iran have been excluded from the coalition.
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France has launched its first air strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Iraq, the office of President Francois Hollande says.
A statement said planes had attacked an ISIS depot in north-east Iraq, and there would be more raids in the coming days.
The US has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the jihadist group in Iraq since mid-August.
ISIS remains in control of dozens of cities and towns in Iraq and Syria, where it has declared a caliphate.
Friday’s air strike comes a day after President Francois Hollande said he had agreed to an Iraqi request for air support, but it would only target IS in Iraq and not in neighboring Syria.
Francois Hollande also insisted that he would not send ground troops.
France has launched its first air strikes against ISIS militants in Iraq
France had already been carrying out reconnaissance flights over Iraq and providing weapons to Kurdish fighters in the north.
Francois Hollande’s office said Rafale planes had carried out the attack and “the objective was hit and completely destroyed”.
It did not give details on the type of material at the depot, or its exact location.
However, Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi military, said four French air strikes had hit the town of Zumar, killing dozens of militants, AP news agency reported.
On September 15, France – which opposed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq – hosted an international conference on the crisis.
It saw 26 countries pledge their commitment to supporting the new Iraqi government in its fight against ISIS “by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance”.
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The Islamic State (ISIS) group has released a new video showing British man John Cantlie believed to be held hostage by the jihadist militants.
Dressed in orange, John Cantlie, who in 2012 escaped an earlier kidnapping in Syria, asks why he and others have been abandoned by the US and UK governments.
ISIS has recently killed three hostages and, in a video showing the death of UK aid worker David Haines, threatened to kill British man Alan Henning next.
No ISIS militants are seen in the video, which is entitled Lend Me Your Ears and is addressed to the Western public.
In it John Cantlie says other European governments have negotiated for the release of their hostages but says the US and UK have done things differently.
“After two disastrous and hugely unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, why is it that our governments appear so keen to get involved in yet another unwinnable conflict?” he says.
He also says this is the first of several of what he calls programs in which he will explain the philosophy of ISIS.
From comments on the tape, it is clear it was made this year, but not precisely when.
The video featuring John Cantlie has been released nearly a week after footage depicting the death of David Haines, the first British hostage to be killed
The video featuring John Cantlie has been released nearly a week after footage depicting the death of David Haines, the first British hostage to be killed.
It was in that video that the life of Alan Henning, 47, from Salford, was threatened.
Alan Henning was a volunteer on an aid convoy in December 2013 when he was seized just after crossing into Syria.
Earlier, British Muslim leaders called for his immediate release, saying anyone undertaking a humanitarian act should be held in the highest esteem.
The video of David Haines’s death followed the killings of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff – which were also shown in videos – in August and earlier this month respectively.
On September 16, IS released a separate video, which was described by analysts as a video response to US air strikes.
The slickly produced, Hollywood-style trailer for a film entitled Flames of War refers to US President Barack Obama’s insistence that US combat troops would not be returning to fight in Iraq.
In an apparent taunt, it depicts wounded US troops, masked executioners standing over kneeling captives, and declares at the conclusion: “Fighting has just begun.”
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