American journalist Steven Sotloff was able to hide his Jewish faith and dual US-Israeli citizenship from his Islamist captors up to the time he was beheaded, reports state.

The execution of the reporter was shown in a video released Tuesday by his captors and killers, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Like Us on Facebook

Sotloff successfully hid his Jewish religion while in captivity and even managed to fast during important religious holidays by pretending to be sick.

Media colleagues, family, and friends helped the 31-year-old journalist keep his religious faith and nationality secret. More than 150 friends and acquaintances built a network to remove all information and references to his nationality and faith from the internet whenever they arose.

Immediately after he was kidnapped last year, the Israeli media, for its part, issued a self-imposed news blackout on reporting his ties to the country. The American media also cooperated and did not mention Sotloff's religion and citizenship.

Reports said Sotloff, who was originally from Florida, moved to Israel in 2008 and worked for Israeli papers and media organizations as well as  U.S. media entities. He was such a devout believer that he risked his life in captivity just to be able to observe the tenets of his faith like praying and fasting.

A former hostage who was with Sotloff during captivity told an Israeli paper that Sotloff used to secretly pray in the direction of Jerusalem. He said he managed to pinpoint the exact location by looking at his Muslim kidnappers when they prayed and adjusting the angle accordingly.

Sotloff was reportedly engrossed in counting the days during which he had been held in order for him to work out the date and observe Jewish religious holidays. During Yom Kippur, Sotloff managed to fast by telling his captors that he was sick and could not eat.

Reports said that when Sotloff was working in Muslim countries and was asked about his background, he told them that his surname was Chechen in origin and that he was a non-practicing Muslim.

Sotloff reportedly attended the University of Central Florida before moving to Israel to finish his undergraduate studies at the Interdisciplinary Centre Herzliya at Tel Aviv. After graduation, he stayed on in Israel and was later granted citizenship.

TagsSteven Sotloff, sotloff, ISIS, journalist, American journalist, ISIL, Israel, execution, beheading