Prime Minister David Cameron vowed Sunday to "hunt down those responsible" for the beheading of British aid worker David Haines and "bring them to justice no matter how long it takes."
Cameron was speaking a day after the militant group ISIS released a video showing the beheading of Haines and issuing a threat against another British hostage. Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it saw no reason to doubt the authenticity of the video.
Haines is the third Westerner to be beheaded by ISIS in recent weeks. Two earlier videos showed the beheading of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, respectively.
Cameron called an emergency meeting of military and security chiefs after the video's release Saturday night and addressed the media from 10 Downing Street Sunday afternoon.
In his brief statement, Cameron called ISIS, also known under the names Islamic State and ISIL, "the embodiment of evil" and condemned the group's indiscriminate killing of thousands of Muslims, Christians and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria.
ISIS militants fighting in Iraq and Syria released a video on Saturday that showed Haines being beheaded by a man who resembled the British-accented man seen in earlier ISIS videos. (Associated Press)
"They claim to do this in the name of Islam. That is nonsense," Cameron said. "Islam is a religion of peace. They are not Muslims; they are monsters."
Cameron said ISIS poses a "massive threat " not just to the Middle East but to the security of Britain, the U.S., Europe and other allies.
"There is no option of keeping our heads down that would keep us safe," he said.
He said the U.K. will work with the central Iraqi government to ensure it can effectively take on ISIS and will continue to supply ammunition and training to the Kurdish regional government. Britain will also continue helping the U.S. with surveillance, intelligence gathering and logistics in its fight against the Sunni extremists.
"This is not about British combat boots on the ground; this is about working with others to extinguish this terrorist threat," Cameron said.
Britons 'sickened' by prospect hostage taker is citizen
Cameron also made reference to the fact that one of the ISIS hostage takers seen on the latest video as well as two earlier videos of U.S. hostages could be a British citizen.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron made an emotional statement from 10 Downing Street Sunday vowing revenge on ISIS for the killing of British aid worker David Haines. (John Stillwell/Associated Press)
The masked man shown on the Haines video, which ends with footage of Haines's body, seems similar to the man in the earlier beheading videos. The tall man speaks with a similar British accent and — as in the two earlier videos — threatens the captive with a large knife brandished in his left hand.
"People across this country would have been sickened by the fact that it could have been a British citizen … who could have carried out this unspeakable act. It is the very opposite of everything our country stands for.
"It falls to the government and to each and every one of us to drain this poison from our society and to take on this warped ideology that is radicalizing some of our young people."
The latest video shows Cameron condemning ISIS. The man with the knife then condemns Britain's support of American action against the group and says the captive must pay with his life.
'A British hero'
In his statement Sunday, Cameron praised Haines's humanitarian work in the Middle East and elsewhere and called him "a British hero."
"He went into harm's way not to harm people but to help his fellow human beings in the hour of their direst need," Cameron said. "The whole country, like his grieving family, can be incredibly proud of what he did and what he stood for in his humanitarian mission."
Haines's brother, Mike Haines, said Haines had entered humanitarian work with enthusiasm.
"He helped whoever needed help, regardless of race, creed or religion," he said in a statement.
A threat against Haines was made at the end of a video released earlier this month showing the beheading of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff, above. (Associated Press)
Haines was kidnapped in Syria in March last year while working for the French aid group Agency for Technical Co-operation and Development, or ACTED, to help victims of the civil war there.
He had also worked for groups such as Handicap International, which helps the disabled during conflicts, and Nonviolent Peaceforce, which sends unarmed peacekeepers into conflict zones. He had previously been in Libya during its civil war and South Sudan. Mike Haines said he had also worked for the United Nations in the Balkans "helping people in real need."
The leader of Bosnia's Islamic community, Husein Kavazovic, called on fellow Muslims Sunday to "show resolve to stop the murderers." He said Haines's family can be proud of his legacy.
Leaves behind 2 daughters
The 44-year-old aid worker's captors had threatened his life at the end of an earlier video that showed the beheading of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff.
Haines's relatives had issued a plea to the hostage-takers last Friday, urging them to contact the family. The family said ISIS had ignored earlier attempts to open communications.
Another U.S. journalist, James Foley, was seen being beheaded in a video released in late August, making Haines the third Westerner to be beheaded by ISIS in recent weeks.
Like Haines, Foley, above, was forced to recite a confession before he was beheaded. (Nicole Tung/Associated Press)
British officials had said they were doing everything possible to protect Haines. An earlier rescue bid led by U.S. forces had failed, however, and it is not clear Western agencies know the precise location of the hostage-takers.
Mike Haines said his brother had joined the military as an aircraft engineer with the Royal Air Force after attending school and working for the Royal Mail.
He later got involved in humanitarian work and was "most alive and enthusiastic" when involved with such missions, Mike Haines said.
"His joy and anticipation for the work he went to do in Syria is for myself and family the most important element of this whole sad affair," Mike Haines said. "He was and is loved by all his family and will be missed terribly."
Haines had a teenage daughter in Scotland from a previous marriage and a four-year-old daughter in Croatia with his current wife, Dragana, who did not comment Sunday morning on the news of the killing.
Western allies condemn ISIS
British officials kept news of Haines's abduction out of the public eye for security reasons until IS showed him in a video nearly two weeks ago.
U.S. President Barack Obama said after the killing that the United States would stand with Britain in an expanded effort against the terror group.
"We will work with the United Kingdom and a broad coalition of nations from the region and around the world to bring the perpetrators of this outrageous act to justice and to degrade and destroy this threat to the people of our countries, the region and the world," he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a tweet sent Saturday evening that "Canada condemns the barbaric killing of David Haines by ISIL."
"Our thoughts & prayers are with his family at this time," the tweet said.
Germany and France, which is holding an international conference Monday to combat ISIS, also condemned Haines's killing.
"The odious assassination of David Haines shows once more the need for the international community to mobilize against the base and cowardly Daesh," French President François Hollande said, using the group's Arabic acronym.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called the Haines killing "an abhorrent act of barbaric violence beyond all limits of human civilization" and said the Paris meeting comes at the right time.
There needs to be "internationally agreed action to effectively stop the flow of fighters and money," he said.
Some British lawmakers called for Britain to launch air strikes against Islamic State forces after the killing.
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