Salopek

Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic on Thursday said that Croatia's role in the global alliance against the Islamic State was not a factor behind ISIS's - unconfirmed - killing of Tomislav Salopek.

Countries around the world have expressed sympathy for the family of Tomislav Salopek and support for Croatia following Wednesday's report that ISIS in Egypt had executed him.

The report has yet to be confirmed.

Croatian PM Zoran Milanovic said on Wednesday afternoon he was unable to confirm that a Croatian citizen held by Islamic State in Egypt had been killed.

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday afternoon said Croatia could "not confirm with complete certainty that Tomislav Salopek was executed by ISIS" though he suggested it was certainly possible.

Croatian citizen Tomislav Salopek has been beheaded in Egypt, the Zagreb-based daily Jutranji List is reporting on Wednesday.

Salopek was kidnapped by Islamic State extremists.

The ISIS militant group has released a video claiming to show the beheading of Croatian hostage Tomislav Salopek. The Croatian man was captured by members of the extreme Islamist group on July 22 outside Cairo. ISIS had threatened to kill the 30-year old man, if some Muslim prisoners were not released by the Egyptian authorities.

As unconfirmed photo of beheaded figure appears on Twitter, fears grow that terrorist group ISIS has executed Croatian hostage Tomislav Salopek in Egypt.

Egyptian police, antiterrorist units and secret services are continuing to search for Salopek after a deadline for fulfilling ISIS's demands passed, the interior ministry in Cairo said on Sunday.

An anti-terrorist unit was searching for Salopek in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula when they drove over a landmine which killed two and wounded three members of the unit.

Croatian foreign minister Vesna Pusic flew to Cairo on Thursday, accompanied by Salopek's wife Natasa, in a bid to get help from the Egyptian authorities to save Salopek from ISIS.

Salopek's father Zlatko also pleaded with his abductors on Thursday to free his son.

ISIS militants in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt published the video message from Croatian citizen Tomislav Salopek on the internet on Wednesday, demanding that the authorities in Cairo release imprisoned Muslim women.

In the video, 31-year-old Salopek reads out the message on his knees, while a masked man holds a knife beside him.