South Sudan regrets beheading of its national by ISIS in Libya

October 20, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudanese government has condemned the beheading of one of its nationals kidnapped in Libya, saying the act was “outrageous” and “wanton killing of innocents."

ISIS on Monday released a videotaped gruesome beheading of a South Sudanese national identified as Kuol G. Deng from Warrap state, home to president Salva Kiir. The killing showed a masked, knife-wielding terrorist dressed in orange jump suits, beheading the man after being forced down on the ground before he was killed.

Spokesman of South Sudanese foreign affairs and international cooperation, Mawien Makol, said in a statement on Tuesday that the government regretted the manner in which the South Sudanese national was killed in Libya.

“As the government we regretted that incident and asked our citizens in Libya to take extra measures to [take] care of themselves, their life and safety. As the government we have taken steps to talk to the Libyan authorities to ensure that our people in Libya are protected,” Makol said.

“We talked to our ambassador in Cairo, Egypt, to talk to the Libyan ambassador there about this issue.”

The foreign ministry official explained the victim was in Sudan from where he moved to Libya more than 14 years ago and was initially in Tripoli before moving to Bengasi where he met his fate on October 14, 2015.

“He was working in Libya as carpenter before and later changed jobs. He has worked in several capacities before in Libya,” he said.

He assured government commitment to providing adequate security and protection to the Libyan nationals in the country, asserting such a thing would not occur in the country.

Makol dismissed accusations by ISIS that South Sudanese Muslim community was being mistreated in South Sudan, saying the level of freedom they enjoyed in the country was great.

The Islamic militant group, ISIS, claimed that they killed the man in defence of South Sudanese Muslim community, which they alleged to have been mistreated by the majority Christians in the country.

(ST)