Grabar-Kitarovic spoke to reporters in the coastal city of Split. “It is shocking”.
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If the death is confirmed, it would be the first time that jihadist militants in Egypt have beheaded a Western hostage since stepping up their campaign against the state two years ago. There are also growing numbers of supporters in other countries.
Croatia has played a minor role in the military effort to defeat the extremist group, sending weapons to Kurdish forces in Iraq. A U.S.-led alliance is targeting IS targets in both Syria and Iraq.
A photograph circulating the social media among ISIS loyalists on Wednesday shows what is claimed by the Islamic State to be the beheading of a Croatian citizen in Egypt.
CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the image.
“No, no, no”, Goran Blazanovic kept repeating as he sat in the local cafe filled with pale and quiet guests who were switching from one news portal to another on their smartphone screens, looking for signs that would give them hope that the reports were mistaken.
Still, the image and a video released days ago threatening just a horrific act had many fearing the worst.
Executing foreigners and opposition fighters is a trend followed by “Islamic State” affiliated groups in Syria and Libya.
He also appealed for calm.
“They want to swap me for Muslim women arrested in Egyptian prisons”. It was not clear where the video was shot.
He also says Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s government tried to “legitimize itself with a supposed tough stance against home-grown militants” but that his security policy “has been a catastrophic failure”.
Following the release of the video, Ardiseis Egypt, a subsidiary of CGG, confirmed he was one of their employees. “(Egyptian government) detainees be negotiated”.
State-run Croatian news agency HINA quoted a foreign ministry source as saying it “does not have confirmation that abducted Croatian citizen Tomislav Salopek has been killed”.
The Croatian president was expected to hold a press conference later in the day.
The picture was posted on IS-affiliated Twitter accounts with the caption: “Execution of prisoner from Croatia – which has participated in war on Islamic State – after deadline ended”.
Last week, the slain man’s father begged the terrorists to spare his son’s life. “(Egyptian government) detainees be negotiated”.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri told his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusic on Wednesday that the authorities were still doing all they could to find and arrest the kidnappers, his ministry said.
He said he was married to Natasa with two kids and that he worked for Compagnie Generale de Geophysique (CGG).
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A Croatian surveyor who came to Egypt seeking work to support his family was beheaded by ISIS terrorists three weeks after he was taken hostage outside Cairo.
