US 'tried to rescue Foley'

The Pentagon said on Wednesday that Washington had sent special operations troops into Syria, but that a mission to rescue US hostages had ultimately proved unsuccessful.

The rescue operation "involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network…" the Pentagon statement said. "Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location."

Unnamed officials told news agencies the group of captives included journalist James Foley, who was beheaded in a video distributed this week by the militant Islamist group "Islamic State" (IS).

US President Barack Obama authorized the mission earlier this summer, after intelligence agencies believed they had a fix on the location of several hostages, according to Obama's top counterterrorism aide Lisa Monaco.

"The President authorized action at this time because it was the national security team's assessment that these hostages were in danger with each passing day in (IS) custody,"

"Unfortunately, that mission was ultimately not successful because the hostages were not present," Monaco said.

Family's words of praise

Foley's parents on Wednesday paid tribute to their son, with his mother Diane describing him as "a hero," and "the best of America."

Obama condemned the beheading of the 40-year-old freelance reporter as "an act of violence that shocked the conscience of the entire world." The president labeled the militant group a "cancer" that had subjected women and children to torture, rape and slavery.

IS claimed Foley's execution, which prompted widespread revulsion and condemnation for the jihadist group, was in revenge for US airstrikes in Iraq. Among the missions carried out by US aircraft was the provision of air cover for a Kurdish and Iraqi ground operation to retake control of Iraq's largest dam - Mosul Dam - from IS.

British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his vacation as UK intelligence operatives sought to identify Foley's killer, who appeared in the video speaking with a British accent.

The footage, which has been verified as authentic, also shows images of US journalist Steven Sotloff. In the video, IS implied that Sotloff's fate was dependent on US actions in Iraq.

rc/jr (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)