The White House says the U.S. intelligence community is working to determine the authenticity of a video that purports to show that >Islamic State militants have beheaded American aid worker Peter Kassig .
National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan says that if the video is authentic, the White House would be “appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American.” She says the White House expresses its deepest condolences to Kassig’s family and friends.
The video emerged just minutes after President Barack Obama departed Australia for the U.S. The president was in Australia for the Group of 20 economic summit.
Kassig, 26, was captured last year while helping provide medical aid to Syrians. His friends say he converted to Islam in captivity and changed his name to Abdul-Rahman.
IS actions trigger international fury Australian combat jets were pulled out of a potential strike on a moving Islamic State (IS) target in Iraq because of concerns that civilians could be killed, the defence ministry said.
>Read here A video showing American journalist James Foley being beheaded was released on August 19, as a five-minute clip titled “A Message to America”. The group threatened to kill another U.S. journalist, Steven Sotloff, if President Obama did not halt his air strikes in Iraq.
>Read here Senior While House Counterterrorism official Lisa Monaco said the rescue attempt undertaken by the Obama government “earlier this summer” ultimately failed because the hostages were not present at the location.
>Read here A video showing IS beheading U.S. reporter Steven Sotloff was released on September 2, exactly two weeks after they disseminated on the Internet a similar gruesome video depicting the killing of another American journalist, James Foley.
>Read here Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. would hold accountable those who murdered their citizens, “no matter how long it takes.”
>Read here The US President emphasised that Washington will take the lead in a "broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat."
>Read here 
