An extremist group posted a video on a website today showing a man it said was an American hostage being shot in the back of the head, and the German government said one of its citizens released by kidnappers was expected to leave Iraq.
But there was still no word on the fate of four other Western hostages - an American, a Briton and two Canadians - kidnapped in late November. The Islamic Army of Iraq said the man shown in the video was civilian contractor Ronald Allen Schulz.
The group had issued a statement on an Islamic militant Web forum on December 8th saying he had been killed after the United States failed to respond to its demand for the release of Iraqi prisoners, and that pictures of the slaying would be released later.
The video did not show the man's face, and it was impossible to identify him conclusively. The victim was kneeling with his back to the camera, with his hands tied behind his back and blindfolded with an Arab head-dress when he was shot.
In a separate piece of film, shown on a split screen as the killing was aired, the group also showed a picture of Schulz alive. The group aired the same footage of the American when it announced he had been kidnapped earlier this month.
The group identified Schulz as a security consultant for the Iraqi Housing Ministry, although neighbours and family from Alaska, where he lives, say he is an industrial electrician who has worked on contracts around the world.
The Islamic Army of Iraq, one of the most active groups in Iraq, is believed to include former Baathists and loyalists to Saddam Hussein, plus Sunni Salafist Islamic extremists and former Palestinian militants who lived in Iraq under Saddam's rule.
In the past, it has been implicated in the murder of Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni, who had volunteered for the Red Cross in Iraq, and also has abducted French journalists and executed Pakistani contractors and Macedonians working for a US company.
Also today, the German government said 43-year-old aid worker and archaeologist Susanne Osthoff - who was released a day earlier - was soon expected to leave Iraq. She had been held hostage for three weeks.
Officials left several questions unanswered about the kidnapping and release of Osthoff, the first German taken hostage in Iraq. It is not clear who kidnapped her.