Cairo: Egyptian authorities on Thursday said they were continuing efforts to verify the authenticity of a photo depicting the alleged execution of a Croatian citizen by an Islamic State (IS)-affiliate in Egypt's Sinai Province.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusic that Egyptian security agencies have no concrete information about the alleged beheading of the hostage, a statement said.
The Egyptian government is devoting "maximum efforts" to find those responsible for the abduction and alleged murder, the statement added.
The Croatian government on Wednesday said it was unable to confirm the death of Tomislav Salopek, who was taken hostage in Egypt by IS in July, although it expressed fears that the news may be true, EFE reported.
"We cannot confirm with 100 percent certainty that this is true and I don't know if we will be able to confirm that in the coming days, but what we see does not look good, looks horrible," Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said.
The jihadi group released images earlier on Wednesday depicting the beheaded body of Salopek, shown lifeless on the floor next to the terrorist group's flag.
"We will not stop searching (for Salopek) as long as the slightest hope exists," Milanovic assured.
Tomislav Salopek, married with two children, was working in Egypt for French geoscience company CGG. He was kidnapped on July 22. On August 5, the affiliate group Wilayat Sina threatened to kill Salopek unless "Muslim women" were freed from Egyptian jails.
