– ‘Brave and talented’ –
Sotloff’s former employers at Time and Foreign Policy paid tribute to a man widely respected for his intrepid reporting in Syria and the wider region, including a previous stint in Libya.
Sharing on Twitter a piece Sotloff had once written from a besieged rebel enclave in the Syrian city of Aleppo, Foreign Policy’s Middle East editor David Kenner dubbed him “a brave and talented reporter.”
Speaking in New Zealand, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday the world was outraged at the apparent beheading.
“I strongly condemn all such despicable crimes and I refuse to accept that whole communities can be threatened by atrocities because of who they are or what they believe,” Ban said.
The latest brutal murder, which came on the heels of fresh reports of more IS atrocities against Iraqi and Syrian prisoners, will increase pressure on Obama to toughen his stance against the group.
He has promised to be “relentless” in his protection of US citizens in Iraq but admitted last week that Washington does not yet have a strategy to deal with IS in its heartland in eastern Syria.
Obama arrived in Estonian capital Tallinn on Wednesday, where he is due to meet Baltic leaders before heading to a NATO summit in Wales. He made no comment on Sotloff’s murder or the situation in Iraq and Syria.
US air strikes have continued since Foley’s killing and on Tuesday appeared to bear fruit, as Iraqi forces continued their fightback against the jihadists who have seized much of northern Iraq.
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said the approximately 350 additional military personnel on the ground in Baghdad would provide security at the Baghdad embassy compound and its support facilities.
“This builds upon previous embassy security deployments announced on June 15 and June 30 and will bring the total forces responsible for augmenting diplomatic security in Iraq up to approximately 820,” he said in a statement.
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