Jihadists claim beheading of US journalist

 WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (AFP):  Jihadist group the Islamic State Tuesday claimed to have executed American journalist James Foley in revenge for US air strikes against its fighters and threatened to kill a second reporter.

The Sunni Islamist group released a video showing a masked militant purportedly beheading Foley, who has been missing since he was seized by armed men in Syria in November 2012.

A second captive, introduced as US reporter Steven Sotloff, is shown alive, along with a warning that his fate rests on US President Barack Obama ordering a halt to military action against the jihadist group.

The White House said US intelligence was studying the video.

"If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.

In the nearly five-minute video, titled "A Message to America" and distributed online by known Islamic State sources, the group declares that Foley was killed after Obama ordered air strikes against IS positions in northern Iraq.

The purported execution is carried out in an open desert area with no immediate signs as to whether it is in Iraq or Syria by a black-clad masked militant who speaks English with a British accent.

Foley is seen kneeling on the ground, wearing an orange outfit that resembles those worn by prisoners held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay.