CAIRO, Egypt – A videotape purporting to show the beheading of a Turkish truck driver kidnapped last month in Iraq surfaced Monday on the Web site of an al-Qaida-linked militant group.
On the video, the victim identifies himself as Durmus Kumdereli. Speaking in Turkish, he says he was transporting goods to an American military base in Mosul.
Afterward, a black screen reading “the execution” appears, followed by warnings from masked, armed militants to foreign drivers, and grisly footage of the beheading.
The authenticity of the video, which was digitally dated Aug. 17, could not be verified. It was posted on the Web site known for carrying statements from Tawhid and Jihad, a group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that has beheaded other foreign hostages.
Three militants appeared in the video under a black banner of the Tawhid and Jihad; two were carrying guns and the third read from a statement.
“We have forewarned. … We will slaughter this driver and release the other,” the man read. “Let it be known from today, any drivers with us will see nothing but slaughtering, whether Arabs or non-Arabs.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
