Beheading of US civilian not to force Australia out of Iraq: PM

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday that the killing of a US civilian won't force Australia out of Iraq.

A video broadcast on Tuesday showed a US civilian was beheaded in Iraq by a group affiliated to the al Qaeda, an international terrorist network. A masked man on the video tape read a statementcalled on Muslims to seek revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisonersby US troops.

"I think they will opportunistically use anything the West doesto justify what they do," Howard said in an interview with the local Nine Network tv.

This kind of depraved behavior by terrorists has been going on for years, but it won't force Australia out of Iraq, and "We're not going to walk away from our responsibilities," he said.

Australia, a member of the US-led coalition in Iraq, still keeps around 900 military personnel in the post-war Middle East country.

Source: Xinhua