French President Hollande Condemns Beheading By Algerian Islamic State Affiliates

 An Islamic State-related jihadist group released a video this week claiming to have beheaded a French mountain guide kidnapped in Algeria on Sunday.

The Algerian jihadist group Jund al-Khilafah, which is affiliated with the Islamic State, released a video Wednesday showing the beheading of French mountain guide Hervé Gourdel. The mountaineer was kidnapped by the jihadist group on Sunday, and the group had demanded France immediately stop participating in airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq or suffer a "revenge" beheading.

According to Reuters, a video released before the beheading purportedly shows Gourdel pleading with France to halt its airstrikes. "I am in the hands of Jund al-Khilifa, an Algerian armed group. This armed group is asking me to ask you (President Francois Hollande) to not intervene in Iraq. They are holding me as a hostage and I ask you Mr. President to do everything to get me out of this bad situation and I thank you," the man, presumably Gourdel, says in the video.

French President Francoise Hollande addressed the video while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Wednesday. "You will understand that today I am speaking before you with a particularly high level of emotion because one of my compatriots has just been subject of a cowardly assassination," the president said.

"He was a man who was full enthusiasm. He loved the mountains. He thought he would be able to pursue his passion moving into the Ouzou area in Algeria."

The Islamic State issued another statement earlier this week that encouraged its supporters in different countries to attack western countries participating in the recent airstrikes. Despite threats, the U.S. and its allies carried out another large set of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday, this time targeting oil reserves used by the Islamic State.