There is just something so ghastly in this apology.

It appears from chatter on ISIS forums that the initial video release was an unintentional leak from within ISIS circles. An ISIS-affiliated twitter account (now suspended) published the video ahead of the prescribed time. Another ISIS-affiliated account, @Khattabyaz pulled them up on their error, but at that point it was too late, and the video was in circulation. The group then apologised to its followers for the lack of discipline in a text missive on Justpaste, saying:

“A clarification about the mistake was made by “Uyun al-Ummah” account, that has published the video before the official time.

The user saw a tweet with the video and thought it was published officially. We tried to remove the video after we understood that his was published by mistake, and we are sorry to the followers of the Islamic State.”

Again, the video featured a black-clad executioner with a British accent, who seemed to confirm that he was the same man as in the video of James Foley’s beheading.

Awful. I’m sick over this. The apology about the timing of the publication almost makes it worse – if it could possibly get any worse.