Horrific video shows Catholic Priest being beheaded by jihadist in front of cheering crowd

A Syrian Catholic priest has been beheaded by jihadist fighters in Syria, it has been claimed.

The death of Franciscan Father Francois Murad has been confirmed by the official Vatican news agency.

The gruesome killing has raised further concerns about the West arming rebels in the fight against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

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Grainy footage purported to show the 49-year-old’s death has been posted on the internet.

Father Francois, was killed on 23 June in Gassanieh, in northern Syria.

He had been staying in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land.

Catholic.org linked to the video and reported: ‘Syrian terrorists have beheaded a Catholic priest who they accused of collaborating with the Assad regime. Those accusations have not yet been verified.’

Fides News Agency said: ‘According to local sources, the monastery where Fr. Murad was staying was attacked by militants linked to the jihadi group Jabhat al-Nusra.’

Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the Front for the Protection of the Syrian People, is an Al Qaeda associated group, described as ‘the most aggressive and successful arm of the rebel force.’

In the video, filmed on a camera phone and posted on LiveLeak, three men – including a man reported to be Father Francois – are seen sitting on the dusty ground as a crowd around them cheers.

The man, wearing a brown robe, is filmed sitting cross-legged with his hands apparently bound.

He is pulled forward and laid face down on the grass as the crowd chant ‘Allahu akbar’ and take photos.

He is then decapitated, using what looks like a rudimentary kitchen knife.

Dozens of camera phones are shoved forward by the baying crowd as the scene turns more bloody.

Fides News Agency says the ‘circumstances of the death are not fully understood’ but said his death has been confirmed by the Custos of the Holy Land – the convent where Father Francois had been staying.

It has not been confirmed Father Francois was beheaded.

Assad’s forces pounded Sunni Muslim rebels in the city of Homs with artillery and from the air on Sunday, the second day of their offensive in central Syria, activists said.

They said rebels defending the old centre of Homs and five adjacent Sunni districts had largely repelled a ground attack on Saturday by Assad’s forces, backed by guerrillas from the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah, but reported clashes and deaths within the city on Sunday.

Mohammad Mroueh, a member of the opposition ‘Homs Crisis Cell’ said at least 25 loyalist troops including four Hezbollah fighters had been killed in Homs in the previous 24 hours.

Such reports are difficult to verify in Syria, where independent media cannot usually report freely.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition said in a statement that it feared that Assad’s forces will use chemical weapons on the city ‘after the regime’s campaign on Homs failed to achieve any important results.’

The offensive follows steady military gains by Assad’s forces, backed by Hezbollah, in villages in Homs province and towns close to the Lebanese border.

Opposition sources and diplomats said the loyalist advance had tightened the siege of Homs and secured a main road link to Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon and to army bases in Alawite-held territory near the Syrian coast, the main entry point for Russian arms that have given Assad an advantage in firepower.