UN Security Council blasts 'heinous' murder of British aid worker

The UN Security Council on Sunday condemned the "heinous and cowardly murder" of British aid worker David Haines by an Islamic State militant.

"This crime is a tragic reminder of the increasing dangers humanitarian personnel face every day in Syria," the council emphasized in a statement, adopted unanimously by its 15 members.

The statement called for aid workers to be respected in conflict zones and "stressed again that ISIL must be defeated and that the intolerance, violence and hatred it espouses must be stamped out."

Using an alternate acronym for the group, the council members emphasized that "such continued acts of barbarism perpetrated by ISIL do not intimidate them but rather stiffen their resolve that there has to be a common effort" against it and other jihadist groups.

The council also called for the "immediate, safe and unconditional release of all those who are kept hostage" by IS and other groups associated with Al-Qaeda.

It urged all states "to cooperate actively" with Britain's efforts to bring the perpetrators of Haines' execution to justice.

Haines was kidnapped in Syria in March 2013.

His beheading was revealed in a video released late Saturday by militants from IS, an extremist group that has taken over a vast territory in Iraq and Syria in recent months.