Video of British hostage released

A new video has been released showing a British man believed to be held hostage by Islamic State (IS) militants.

IS has already killed three hostages and, in its video showing the death of UK aid worker David Haines, threatened to kill British man Alan Henning next.

The latest video, which does not feature a beheading, shows a third British man wearing orange clothing who says he is a prisoner.

He asks why he and others have been abandoned by the US and UK governments.

No IS militants are seen in the video, which is entitled "Lend Me Your Ears" and is addressed to the Western public.

'Abandoned'

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardener said the hostage was speaking to the camera in a "kind of parody of a chat show".

The hostage says other European governments have negotiated for the release of their hostages but says the US and UK have done things differently.

He also says this is the first of several of what he calls programmes in which he will explain the philosophy of IS.

From comments on the tape, it is clear it was made this year, but not precisely when.

Our correspondent said previous IS videos were directed at US and UK leaders, but this was meant for the British public, particularly Muslims.

"It's very much a propaganda video," he said.

"It doesn't end with any overt threat even though it has clearly been made under duress and he's reading from a script, there's no knife or gun being held to his head."

The message of the video is that IS has been "misrepresented by the Western media", and the hostage says he is going to be revealing the truth about IS in "the coming programmes", our correspondent added.

The video has been released nearly a week after footage depicting the death of Mr Haines, the first British hostage to be killed.

It was in that video that the life of Mr Henning, 47, from Salford, was threatened.

Mr Henning was a volunteer on an aid convoy in December 2013 when he was seized just after crossing into Syria.

Earlier, British Muslim leaders called for his immediate release, saying anyone undertaking a humanitarian act should be held in the highest esteem.

The video of Mr Haines's death followed the killings of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff - which were also shown in videos - in August and earlier this month respectively.