WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama today said that if a video purporting to show the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot is authenticated, it just shows the organization's "barbarity."
"Should in fact this video be authentic, it's just one more indication of the viciousness (and) barbarity of this organization," Obama said.
Pilot Killed One Month Ago: TV Jordanian state television today said pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh, whom the Islamic State group claimed to have burnt alive in a video posted online, was killed a month ago. It said the captured airman had been killed by the group on January 3, before the jihadists offered to spare his life and free a Japanese journalist in return for the release of a female would-be suicide bomber on death row in Jordan. The extremists had threatened to kill Kassasbeh unless Amman handed over Iraqi jihadist Sajida al-Rishawi. State television broadcast a picture of "martyr pilot Kassasbeh" with a black band across the screen accompanied by patriotic music. |
"This organization is only interested in death and destruction," he said when asked about the video at a brief public appearance.
He said the United States would "redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of the global coalition to make sure" the IS group is "ultimately defeated."
The video released today shows images of a man purported to be captured Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh engulfed in flames in a metal cage.
Jordanian state television confirmed the death and said Kassasbeh had been killed on January 3, before the jihadists offered to spare his life and free a Japanese journalist in return for the release of a female would-be suicide bomber on death row in Jordan.
The White House earlier said US intelligence was working to confirm the authenticity of the video.
"The United States strongly condemns ISIL's actions and we call for the immediate release of all those held captive by ISIL. We stand in solidarity with the Government of Jordan and the Jordanian people," the White House said, using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State group.