New Islamic State video shows another British hostage

Pope Francis has stepped up his criticism of Islamic State militants, accusing the group of "perverting" religion.

He said no religious group which used violence and oppression could claim to be "the armour of God".

Francis made his comments during a one-day visit to Albania, an impoverished Balkan country hailed by the pontiff as a model of inter-faith harmony because of good relations between its majority Muslim community and its Christian denominations.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has said the fate of British hostages held by Islamic State militants cannot derail the UK's fight against the organisation.

His comments follow yesterday's release of a new video showing journalist John Cantlie talking to camera, appearing to read from a script.

This report by ITV News Political Correspondent Romilly Weeks contains images from that video:

The Defence Secretary has said that efforts were continuing to determine the location of the two British hostages being held by Islamic State militants.

Michael Fallon said he prayed that journalist John Cantlie and aid worker Alan Henning were still alive, but added: "We can't allow the fate of any hostages, American or British, to derail the overall response to ISIL - we have to tackle ISIL."

Mr Fallon said the the jihadist group posed a direct threat to the security of Britain and other European nations.

IS released a video of Mr Cantlie on Thursday, in which he says he was captured in Syria in 2012.

Islamic State militants have issued a new video showing another British hostage in Syria.

In the footage, journalist John Cantlie is used to promote the group's propaganda.

This report from ITV News Correspondent Juliet Bremner contains images from that video:

British journalist John Cantlie, who appears in a new video released by Islamic State militants, has been taken hostage in Syria before.

Despite being injured in a failed escape attempt before his release the first time, Mr Cantlie chose to return a few months later.

Speaking in August 2012, he said: "We were moved at gunpoint with the weapons loaded, with the safeties off, down into another larger tent where there were two Syrian prisoners.

"We were told that we should prepare to meet our maker and at that point we decided 'this isn't going so well'."

Islamic State militants have released the video of British hostage John Cantlie to engage in "strategic communications" with Western governments and the Muslim youth in those countries, a terrorism expert has said.

"They are acting as an organisation that has a strategy, and that means that they are an actor that can be influenced, and they calibrate what they do with what we do," Professor John Gearson told ITV News.

"Therefore it's a campaign - it's not merely mindless murderers who kills anyone they can find".

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says he has not seen a new IS video which appears to show a British hostage who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012.

Mr Hammond says such videos "can be very distressing for the families of the individuals involved" and the British government is doing everything it can to help British hostages and their relatives.

A British hostage who appears in a new IS video has been identified as journalist John Cantlie.

Mr Cantlie, who is a former war photographer and correspondent for The Sunday Times, The Sun and The Sunday Telegraph, was captured by militants in Syria in 2012.

The British hostage who appears in a new Islamic State (IS) video is wearing an orange jumpsuit and reads from a script which criticises the UK and US governments as well as western media.

The captive says he is a prisoner but ITV News is unable to determine the circumstances or threats he may have been under during the filming.

The Briton reads a transcript saying he has been "abandoned by the UK government" and says his fate lies with IS.

He is seen saying "maybe I will live or maybe I will die" but adds that he wants to "take the opportunity to convey some facts."

He claims he will use subsequent videos to highlight "the truth" about the systems and motivations of IS and why the UK and US are "so keen to get involved in another unwinnable conflict".

ITV News cannot verify when or where the video was made.