DUBAI (Reuters) - A terrified-looking man, rocking back and forth in his chair with his hands tied behind his back, appeals to the United States to leave Iraq and spare him death. Then a hand with a knife appears to slice off his head.
"If we don't (leave Iraq), everyone is gonna be killed in this way ... I have been offered for exchange for prisoners here in Iraq," said the man, who identified himself as Benjamin Vanderford, 22.
One news organisation after another filed the story, only to find out later from the mother of the "computer savvy" man, that it was a hoax.
It showed how almost anyone can use the Internet to manipulate and frighten people and added to growing uncertainty over the credibility of Web sites or their use by Islamist groups as a terror platform.
The video of this apparently staged killing used the graphic format and same logo seen in previous tapes of beheadings released by al Qaeda-linked militant groups.
Vanderford, an American from San Francisco, said he staged the beheading using fake blood and began distributing the videotape on the Internet months ago. "It was part of a stunt, but no one noticed up until now," he said.
[Read More]
_____________________
Source:
Reuters
