Kenji Goto's four-year-old tweet about tolerance goes viral following his death at hands of IS militants

Freelance hournalist Kenji Goto's message of tolerance has been retweeted more than 20,000 times since his death Credit: Press Association

A tweet sent by beheaded freelance journalist Kenji Goto has gone viral, four years after he wrote it.

Goto's message of tolerance was posted on social media on September 7, 2010, and has been retweeted more than 21,000 times in a poignant memorial to the "inspiring" journalist who was confirmed dead on Saturday.

Goto's original tweet was posted online in Japanese:

According to The Associated Press, Goto's message reads: "Closing my eyes and holding still. It's the end if I get mad or scream. It's close to a prayer. Hate is not for humans.

"Judgment lies with God. That's what I learned from my Arabic brothers and sisters."

The 47-year-old journalist, who was described by friends as an "inspiration", was seized in October 2014 in Syria and had been held hostage by Islamic State militants prior to his beheading.

On Saturday a video posted online by Islamic State militants showing the reporter's murder was confirmed as " appearing genuine" by Japan's defence minister Gen Nakatani.