An al-Qaeda-linked group posted a video on the internet today showing the beheading of a Shiite Iraqi man it accused of spying for US forces in Iraq.

A statement posted on the group's website named the man as Ala al-Maliki and described him as "a rejectionist (a term used to refer to Shiite Muslims) who belonged to the Sadr movement" of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The video showed Mr Maliki being beheaded after he was shown confessing to spying for American forces in Iraq