President Barack Obama said Sunday that the US strongly condemns the barbaric murder of UK citizen David Haines and offers condolences. ““The United States stands shoulder to shoulder tonight with our close friend and ally in grief and resolve. We will work with the United Kingdom and a broad coalition of nations from the region and around the world to bring the perpetrators of this outrageous act to justice, and to degrade and destroy this threat to the people of our countries, the region and the world,” Obama said in a statement. The video ISIS released Saturday of the beheading of the British aid worker included a threat to kill a second British hostage.
Prime Minister David Cameron called the murder “an act of pure evil” and pledged “everything in our power to hunt these murderers and ensure they face justice. We will maintain and continually reinforce our counter-terrorism efforts.” Despite the strong words from the British PM, Foreign Secretary Hammond ruled out Britain joining the US in carrying out air strikes against Syria.