In a bizarre twist to unbearable tragedy, British intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 have reportedly identified the man behind the guesome beheading of American journalist James Foley. UK media reports suggest that the hooded man with an English accent in the widely distributed clip is a 23 year-old aspiring rapper named Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, known to fellow Islamic State militants as Jihadi John.
Bary, son of an Egyptian-born militant believed to be an aide to Osama Bin Laden who is awaiting trial for terrorism charges in New York, had more artistic inclinations before entrenching himself in terrorism. He was an aspiring rapper known as L Jinny or Lyricist Jinn, and his music was featured on BBC Radio 1.
In tracks uploaded to YouTube in 2012, Bary conveys a corrosive mental state. ”It’s hard to progress in the future with a damaged past but still I try to count my blessings and I thank Allah,” he said in one of his tracks. ”I’m trying to change my ways but there’s blood on my hands and I can’t change my ways until there’s funds in the bank.
He added: “I can’t differentiate the angels from the demons, my heart’s disintegrating. I ain’t got normal feelings.”
Bary reportedly left a posh life in a West London suburb last year to fight in the civil war in Syria. Earlier this month he reportedly tweeted a photo of himself wearing military camouflage and a black hood, while holding a severed head in his hand.
The elite British SAS (Special Air Service) forces are actively hunting Foley’s killers, with a tandem mission to free other hostages, as local units in Iraq and Syria continue fighting the ISIS faction. Bary is the central focus of the manhunt, however, and is among a group of jihadists referred to as the Beatles because of their British accents. Ex-ISIS hostages have said that Bary has the nickname “John the Beatle” because of his British accent. The two others were called “George” and “Ringo”.
The investigating team are presently using voice recognition technology to match his voice on record and in his music videos with that of the man who decapitated Foley.
