Islamic State: Brit Rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary Is Suspected Beheader of James Foley; Had Tweeted Photo Holding Decapitated Head
Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, a British rapper, is suspected by UK's SAS to be John, the man with an English accent who beheaded American journalist James Foley last week, the New York Post reports.
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In early August, Bary tweeted a photo of himself wearing a camouflage and black hood, while holding on his left hand a decapitated head.
The 24-year-old rapper is the son of an Egypt-born militant now waiting for trial in Manhattan on terror charges for the bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
He is one of the jihadists named by former hostages as member of the group they called Beatles because of their British accent. The two others are called "George" and "Ringo," also named after the two other members of the popular 1960s boy band.
Bary's build, skin tone and accent are similar to John's, plus he went to Syria in 2013 to fight in the civil war. Prior to flying to Syria, he was known as L Jinny, an aspiring rapper from West London. His music was played on BBC Radio 1.
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His being a rapper and having recordings of his voice would provide investigators, who are using voice recognition technology, more ways to confirm is he is the jihadist John.
The wannabe-rapper also had come out in music videos titled Overdose, Flying High and Dreamer.
After being indoctrinated by an Islamic preacher named Anjem Choudary, he left the family residence in Maide Vale district in London "for the sake of Allah."
Besides Bary, other suspects in the decapitation of Foley are 30-year-old Aine Davis, a former drug dealer and an ex-gang member who has converted to Islam and has been to Syria, and Dr Shajul Islam, the sibling of a British doctor accused of kidnapping two Western war reporters whose medical licence was suspended by the National Health Service. He used to work at St Bart's Hospital.
Islam and his two older brothers, however, were released in 2013 because British journalist John Cantile and Dutch photographer Jeroen Derlmans did not testify against the siblings.
The doctor claimed he went to Syria to treat victims of the civil war, which is still ongoing.
His brother Razul had also been to Syria and is believed to be fighting with the terror group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
To help identify the killers of Foley, a dozen counterterrorism expert from the US are coming to the UK.
Read:
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