WASHINGTON (Xinhua) - The White House said on Saturday the United States was working to authenticate the video purporting to show beheading of the second Japanese hostage Kenji Goto posted by the terrorist group ISIL and strongly condemned such crime.
"We have seen the video purporting to show that Japanese citizen Kenji Goto has been murdered by the terrorist group ISIL. We are working to confirm its authenticity," said the White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan in a statement. "The United States strongly condemns ISIL's actions and we call for the immediate release of all remaining hostages."
ISIL demanded Japan pay a ransom of $200 million for the lives of two Japanese hostages of Haruna Yukawa, 42, a security contractor from Chiba Prefecture and Kenji Goto, 47, a freelance journalist from Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture. Haruna Yukawa was beheaded by ISIL a week ago.