Footage of a Syrian soldier’s execution posted online in May features a British fighter who resembles 'Jihadi John’
The man is wearing a similar black robe and mask to that worn by the jihadist who beheaded Mr Foley, and is of similar build and height
By Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter
10:30PM BST 23 Aug 2014
The Telegraph
Security agencies hunting for the killer of James Foley, the American journalist, are investigating video footage of two British jihadists taking part in the execution of a soldier captured during fighting in Syria.
British and US counter-terrorism analysts believe one of the Britons bears a resemblance to the jihadist who beheaded Mr Foley.
If they can prove it is the same man, it would represent a major breakthrough in the inquiry.
The footage, which was posted at the start of May on the website Instagram, shows a soldier loyal to President Bashar al-Assad crouching in a field in Syria, then being shot in the back of the head by a man armed with a pistol.
A man armed with an automatic rifle then shoots the body.
MI5 are understood to be paying special attention to an English-speaking man standing beside the British jihadist who is alleged to have carried out the execution.
He is wearing a similar black robe and mask to that worn by the jihadist who beheaded Mr Foley, and is of similar build and height.
He is also – like Mr Foley’s executioner – apparently left-handed.
The May video represents the first clear-cut evidence of Britons being implicated in war crimes committed in the Syrian conflict.
Researchers at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), based at King’s College, London, believe the men in the footage are both from Britain and part of a militant group called Rayat al Tawheed (Banner of God), which is closely linked to the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (Isil).
There are also reports that the group has been involved in beheadings.
Rayat al Tawheed claims to have four British fighters with them, two of whom feature very prominently in their videos. They both wear distinctive balaclavas and black watches.
The fighter resembling Mr Foley’s killer has the same hectoring style of delivery as that used in the recent Islamic State video.
He pronounces on the evils of the West and beseeches British Muslims to donate money to fund their terrorism.
On Saturday night, a security source said: “We are considering all evidence from the internet to establish who killed James Foley. We can’t afford to rule anything out. But at the same time nothing can be taken at face value.”
In its analysis of the May video, ICSR said that the man who actually uses his AK-47 to fire shots into the body of the prisoner features prominently in several other Rayat al Tawheed videos.
But on its Twitter account Rayat al Tawheed denied knowing the identity of Mr Foley’s killer.
It stated: “To all the journalists, I don’t know who the masked man is that took off the head of Foley. Thank you for understanding.”
Forensic experts working alongside MI5 and Scotland Yard will be closely analysing the Tawheed video for any kind of link between the two executions to show a similar modus operandi.
Key to this analysis will be the English accents in both films.
Despite being filmed deliberately in a barren, featureless landscape with both men wearing hoods the films contain a potential wealth of identifying information.
The mannerism, gestures and postures of the men will be compared. As will the use of language and emphasis of the intonation.
Intelligence analysts will be able to use super-computers to narrow down their search, comparing the voice in the video to voices they already have on file, including from the Tawheed videos.
But a computer cannot pick out an exact match, which relies on the trained human ear as there is no such thing as a unique voice print.
The sophisticated video of the murder of Mr Foley, uploaded to YouTube by Isil, was shot using high-quality equipment, which will play into the hands of investigators because of the clarity of the image and the killer’s voice. The Rayat al Tawheed videos are also slickly produced.
Security sources also said investigators had not discounted the possibility that the British voice was dubbed on to the Foley video, which could mean the man heard speaking was not the man seen in the video.
One of the most obvious clues is that the killer holds the commando knife he uses to behead Mr Foley in his left hand, a trait shared by one in 10 people.
ICSR found the footage of the soldier’s execution, which took place in Raqqa in northern Syria, on the Instagram account of a man thought to be from London.
It was posted with a message describing the prisoner as “one of bashars [sic] dogs”, in reference to Syria’s Mr Assad, claiming that the victim was a murderer and rapist.
In the hunt for Mr Foley’s killer, security services have reportedly “significantly narrowed” the field of suspects although a definitive identification has not yet been made.
The killer has been dubbed “Jihadi John” because he reportedly calls himself John, according to testimony from a hostage released by Isil kidnappers.
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