BEIRUT: US President Barack Obama has ordered a review of how Washington can release American hostages, as intelligence agencies investigated the involvement of Western militants in the beheading of aid worker Peter Kassig.
The announcement of the review came just 24 hours after the release of a video by the Islamic State claiming the beheading of Kassig.
He was the third American to be killed by Islamic State, following the deaths of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
On Monday, the parents of the 26-year-old Kassig paid tribute to their son and said they would try to "forgive" the militants.
In the letter from Obama, dated last Tuesday, Christine Wormuth, the US undersecretary of defence for policy, says the review will focus "on examining family engagement, intelligence collection and diplomatic engagement policies".
"The president recently directed a comprehensive review of the US government policy on overseas terrorist-related hostage cases," Christine Wormuth said in the note posted on The Daily Beast news site.
The move, Wormuth said, comes "as a result of the increased frequency of hostage-taking of Americans overseas, and the recognition of the dynamic threat posed by specific terrorist groups".
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