Washington: President Barack Obama said on Saturday that he authorized the attempt to rescue American Luke Somers in Yemen because the US had information that the American photojournalist's life was in imminent danger.
Shortly before the White House statement, Yemen's national security chief said militants had planned to kill Somers on Saturday.
On Thursday, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula posted a video online threatening to kill the American.
The president said he "strongly condemns the barbaric murder of Luke Somers at the hands of Al Qaeda terrorists" and reaffirmed that the US "will spare no effort to use all its military, intelligence and diplomatic capabilities to bring Americans home safely, wherever they are located."
A mysterious U.S. raid last month had tried to rescue Somers but he was not at the site, the Pentagon's spokesman acknowledged Thursday.
"Based on this assessment, and as soon as there was reliable intelligence and an operational plan, I authorized a rescue attempt yesterday," Obama said in the White House statement.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said during a news conference in Afghanistan that the rescue operation was "extremely well executed," and was complicated and risky.
Obama said Somers wanted to use his photographic images to convey the lives of Yemenis to outsiders, and had come to the country "in peace and was held against his will and threatened by a despicable terrorist organization. The callous disregard for Luke's life is more proof of the depths of AQAP's depravity, and further reason why the world must never cease in seeking to defeat their evil ideology."
Shortly before the White House statement, Yemen's national security chief said militants had planned to kill Somers on Saturday.
On Thursday, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula posted a video online threatening to kill the American.
The president said he "strongly condemns the barbaric murder of Luke Somers at the hands of Al Qaeda terrorists" and reaffirmed that the US "will spare no effort to use all its military, intelligence and diplomatic capabilities to bring Americans home safely, wherever they are located."
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A mysterious U.S. raid last month had tried to rescue Somers but he was not at the site, the Pentagon's spokesman acknowledged Thursday.
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"Based on this assessment, and as soon as there was reliable intelligence and an operational plan, I authorized a rescue attempt yesterday," Obama said in the White House statement.
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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said during a news conference in Afghanistan that the rescue operation was "extremely well executed," and was complicated and risky.
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Obama said Somers wanted to use his photographic images to convey the lives of Yemenis to outsiders, and had come to the country "in peace and was held against his will and threatened by a despicable terrorist organization. The callous disregard for Luke's life is more proof of the depths of AQAP's depravity, and further reason why the world must never cease in seeking to defeat their evil ideology."
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