Family Of Reporter Beheaded By IS Sues Syria

Steven Sotloff's family accuses President Bashar al Assad's government of providing financial and material support to IS.

Steven Sotloff was kidnapped in Syria in August 2013

The family of American journalist Steven Sotloff has sued the Syrian government, claiming it supported Islamic State militants who beheaded him.

The lawsuit filed in a US federal court seeks tens of millions of dollars from the Syrian government.

It contends that President Bashar al Assad's regime provided financial, material and military support to IS.

Mr Sotloff was the second American journalist to be killed by IS militants

The Syrian government has not responded to the lawsuit.

Mr Sotloff, 31, vanished in Syria in August 2013. His capture was kept secret for months at the request of his family.

He next appeared in a video distributed by IS that showed the beheading of fellow US reporter James Foley.

A month later, Mr Sotloff was killed in similar gruesome fashion.

American aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller, along with British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines, were all murdered by the Islamic extremist group

Japanese journalist Kenji Goto was also beheaded by the militants.

IS still controls large swathes of territory in Syria, which has been in the grips of a civil war for more than five years.

A fragile six-week-old ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia appeared to be in jeopardy on Tuesday amid fresh fighting and air strikes.