British spies are on verge of identifying 'Jailer John': Ambassador to US reveals 'we are not far away' from unmasking fanatic who murdered James Foley as SAS gets ready to find him
Ambassador Peter Westmacott said voice recognition technology was being used to find the man, one of a group of British jihadis who boasted about making large fortunes from kidnapping. The man murdered James Foley, the American journalist kidnapped as he tried to report on the plight of the Syrian people. The chief suspects are believed to include rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, a 24-year-old from west London (inset). He is among more than 500 Britons who have enlisted with jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq including Islamic StatBritish spies are on verge of identifying 'Jailer John': Ambassador to US reveals 'we are not far away' from unmasking fanatic who murdered James Foley as SAS gets ready to find him
- Ambassador Peter Westmacott: Voice recognition being used to find him
- The British jihadis have boasted about making fortunes from kidnapping
- Some of the terrorists are planning to 'retire' to either Kuwait or Qatar
- Jihad John even told terrified prisoners about the amount of cash he makes
- It comes as CCTV reportedly shows extremists strolling through Gatwick
- Group said to have flown flew to Turkey in October before crossing border
- One returned to UK and is now in jail - another was killed while fighting
Spies
are close to identifying the hooded jihadist dubbed Jailer John who
beheaded the journalist James Foley, Britain's ambassador to the U.S.
revealed today.
'I
can't say more than this but I know from my colleagues at home that we
are close,' Peter Westmacott told CNN. 'We're putting a lot into it
and there are sophisticated technologies, voice identification and so on
which people can use to check who these people are'.
Security
services are urgently trying to find the extremists, who spoke with
British accents and callously boasted of making personal fortunes from
ransoms paid for other released hostages.
The
gang openly talked of making so much money they could ‘retire to Kuwait
or Qatar’, according to testimonies by former hostages obtained by The
Mail on Sunday.
The
revelation comes as CCTV footage emerged reportedly showing the moment
five separate British jihadis strolled through the departure lounge of
Gatwick Airport on their way to fight in Syria.
They
are all among more than 500 Britons who have enlisted with jihadist
groups in Syria and Iraq, prompting warnings of new terror laws from the
Home Secretary.
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Chilling:
CCTV footage has emerged which reportedly shows five British jihadis
walking through Gatwick Airport on their way to Syria. Second left is
Mashadur Choudhury, far right is Muhammad Hamidur Rahman
Different
fates: Mashadur Choudhury, 31 (left) returned weeks later and became the
first Briton to be convicted over the current conflict in Syria. Former
Primark worker Muhammad Rahman (right) was killed while fighting
The
Gatwick video, which emerged today, purports to show a group of five
British jihadis from Portsmouth leaving the airport for Turkey early on
October 8 last year.
According
to the Sunday Telegraph, the men booked a return journey but instead
used an intermediary to cross the border into Syria where they joined
militants.
One of
the men is said to be 31-year-old Mashadur Choudhury, who returned just
weeks later and in May became the first Briton to be convicted of a
terror offence in relation to the current conflict.
His
12-day trial at Kingston Crown Court saw social media evidence of him
talking about dying a martyr's death and setting up a group called the
al-Britani Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys.
The
trial also heard how he went on a spending spree with £35,000 which he
had borrowed from his family, including a £17,000 Audi A6 and £200
prostitutes.
A different kind of holiday: The group of men walking down a corridor of Gatwick Airport as they left for Turkey
Toll: At least one of the men who is reportedly pictured in the footage has since been killed, said his father
Another of the men was reportedly fellow Portsmouth resident Muhammad Hamidur Rahman.
The 25-year-old was sacked from his job as a Primark store supervisor a month before he left for Syria last October.
His
time as an Islamist fighter was short-lived, as his father said earlier
this month that he had been killed during the conflict.
The
ease with which the men left the country comes despite promises of new
laws to crack down on British extremists by the Home Secretary Theresa
May. Yesterday she insisted authorities had already excluded more than
150 people from Britain.
But
she was also widely mocked by Labour, a Muslim MP and outspoken Tory
David Davis over proposed new laws to stop radical preachers when they
were likened to 'Asbos for terrorists'.
A
Mail on Sunday investigation, meanwhile, reveals more startling
information about the four Islamic State militants who were nicknamed
The Beatles by their Western captives.
Is
this Jihadi John? UK police have photographs of several suspects they
believe are now working for ISIS. Pictured is rapper Abdel Majed Abdel
Bary, 23, from London
Junaid
Hussain, who has a Birmingham accent, is another UK suspect featured on
a Jihadi website, believed to be linked to the ISIS terrorist
organisation. He posts on Twitter under the name Abu Hussain al-Britani
The
men were reported to be ‘interested in money’ from the start of the
kidnap ordeal, even bragging to prisoners about how much they were
making.
A
security source revealed last night that £24 million was paid by at
least four European countries for the release of 11 hostages last year.
British
and US hostages were seen as being in a ‘different category,’ he said –
so demands for an £80 million ransom on Foley were set deliberately
high as a provocation.
It has also emerged that:
• Security services believe they are close to identifying the British militants who executed Foley.
• The East Londoners formed a specialist kidnap gang, operating in Syria for up to two years.
• They are thought to have possibly been involved in the seizure of several Westerners, including Foley.
•
Their leader was not ‘John’, the left-handed man wielding the knife in
the horrific video of Foley’s death, but ‘George’, who goes under the
nom-de-guerre of Abu Muhareb (‘Fighter’).
•
One former hostage described them as ‘sadistic psychopaths’, regularly
handing out brutal ‘punishments’ that included the use of Tasers on
hands and bodies.
• They were so vicious that at one stage they were stopped from guarding hostages by IS.
• IS claims it has ‘sleepers’ already in position in the UK and US, ready to strike at any time.
This man is believed to have travelled to Syria from Portsmouth and has similar eyes to Jihadi John
The
sickening beheading of Foley, shown off in a slick and distressing
propaganda video, highlighted the shameful role being played by British
members of Islamic State.
Security
services in Britain and the US have drawn up a shortlist of suspects.
They believe there may have been more than one killer, since two
different knives feature in the footage, but have not yet definitively
identified those behind the murder.
The
Mail on Sunday has pieced together an unprecedented picture of the
British gang’s brutal operation and its savage treatment of seized
captives through extensive interviews with hostages, family and security
sources.
The
detailed investigation also uncovered disturbing details of how the
world’s wealthiest terror group is being funded by ransom payments, with
£8 million paid for the release of four French hostages alone.
Two
years ago, the United States said such payments had become ‘the most
significant source of terrorist funding’. Britain and the US refuse to
pay ransoms. The disclosure that British militants talked among
themselves and with their captives about ‘retiring’ with the money they
were making demolishes any idea they are motivated purely by religious
fervour.
Our
investigation revealed the existence of four Beatles – not three as has
been widely reported – nicknamed John, Paul, George and Ringo by their
Western captives.
The
gang’s ringleader was ‘George’, who spent much of his time
regurgitating chunks from the Koran and promoting IS’s extremist brand
of Islam at public events.
The
hostages concluded he was not very smart – unlike ‘John’, who used the
nom-de-guerre ‘Abu Saleh’ (‘Pious’) and was seen wielding the knife in
the video of Foley’s murder.
‘Ringo’
was also frequently seen, unlike ‘Paul’ who appeared in their cells the
least. ‘He seems to have been just a guard, not there all the time,’
said one key figure.
They
were also guarded by French-speaking jihadis – at least one of whom was
Belgian. According to these accounts, the British gang spoke among
themselves in English, struggling with Arabic when asked to translate
statements for victims to read on video.
This
led captives to conclude their tormentors were second-generations
Britons; they debated whether the extremists were from Pakistani or
Somali backgrounds.
Hunted: Rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, from west London, is one of those who is being investigated
One
of the jihadis, who posts on Twitter under the name Abu Hussain
al-Britani, has been widely reported for several months as being
20-year-old computer hacker Junaid Hussain.
He
was just 18 when he was jailed for six months in 2012 for posting
sensitive details online about former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Some,
but not all, of the Westerners were tortured – with the thuggish
British fanatics feared more than other militants for their viciousness.
‘They did the worst stuff in the world,’ said one family source. This
violence included beatings and the use of Tasers to give electric
shocks.
Hostages said the British militants were removed at one stage for excessive brutality against them.
They
said the gang seemed to flit between carrying out kidnap operations on
Westerners, fighting on the front line and guarding hostages.
One
well-placed source revealed their cars were identified from number
plates as being used in ‘multiple’ kidnaps. ‘This appears to be a
professional kidnap team,’ he said. ‘There is a good likelihood that
some were involved in the kidnapping of many of the Westerners,
including Foley.’
The American freelance journalist was seized in November 2012, when kidnappings were starting to take off in Syria.
In the early days of the uprising, journalists were valued for giving voice to rebels seeking democracy.
Targets: Some of the militants believed to be with IS who are being hunted by the security services
Reporters
and aid workers began being grabbed from the streets by criminal gangs.
Most ended in the hands of rebel militia, especially the
increasingly-influential jihadist groups who saw them as valuable
financial and propaganda tools.
There
are at least seven Western hostages – three of them American –
currently controlled by IS in North-Eastern Syria. Others are being held
by a motley variety of rebel militia and criminal gangs, sometimes
claiming to be IS to ramp up ransom payments.
Seized
Westerners said they were frequently moved, often every few weeks, and
held together in gloomy basements and cellars. The French hostages
confirmed to security sources after their release that they had shared
cells.
The
hostages were divided over whether The Beatles themselves carried out
ransom negotiations, fixed the prices on their heads or wrote chilling
emails sent to their families.
Foley,
however, was treated differently from the start. He was barred from
contact with his family and there was no ransom demand for the first
year of his captivity – then when one was sent, it was set
preposterously high at £80 million.
American
hostages – especially Foley, whose brother was discovered to be serving
in the US Air Force – were picked out for the most brutal beatings.
Respected: Foley (pictured) was a freelance contributor to GlobalPost and was kidnapped while in Syria
‘From
the beginning, they were interested in hitting America,’ one hostage
told a friend. ‘The more they can do to point the arrow into America,
they more they will do. They think America is evil.’
Nicholas
Henin, a French journalist, has described how his fellow captive Foley
‘became the jailers’ punch bag’ yet remained impassive, despite terrible
abuse.
Western
hostages endure mock executions, are routinely accused of being spies,
and are forced to suffer terrifying interrogations.
One European photographer was told he must be a spy since his country had friendly relations with the US government.
The
hostages, who could hear air strikes nearby and in at least one prison,
were ordered to pray five times a day and were blindfolded even when
moved between cells by the British gang.
‘Those
guards really want everything to stay secret,’ one hostage told a
friend. ‘They used lots of tricks to make sure we didn’t know who they
were or where we were.
‘For example, when they entered the room, you faced the wall even if they were masked.’
Western
captives were seen as valuable commodities, sometimes being fed better
than local inmates. ‘They might keep Americans for special occasions,’
said a Syrian bounty hunter hired to track down hostages. One local
journalist kidnapped by IS and held in their stronghold of Raqqa said
they were crammed 20 to 40 in a stinking cell under a municipal
building.
He
described watching the torture of a fellow prisoner by guards using
electric shocks and sticks, while two fellow inmates were publicly
executed in a nearby square.
Syrians have been executed by IS for ‘crimes’ such as homosexuality and witchcraft.
The British security services have drawn up a shortlist of suspects behind the murder of James Foley
IS
kidnaps and buys hostages from other groups, while also raking off a
fortune from oil sales. It has become extremely wealthy and well
equipped; even captured soldiers in Iraq are held to ransom, with $1
million raised from just 20 troops in one recent case.
A
security source with intimate knowledge of Syrian kidnap cases said
hostage families were contacted by email with threatening demands for
money. ‘In some cases, the negotiators added on fees when families
stalled or weren’t able to produce the money,’ he said.
It
is understood £8 million was paid to secure the freedom of four French
hostages, including war reporter Didier Francois, with another £16
million handed over for the lives of seven other European journalists
and aid workers.
‘They
usually demand insane ransoms for people, then it gets lowered to a few
million,’ said a Syrian source. All governments deny making payments,
but an official Italian source privately admitted paying ransoms last
week. Most of the cash comes from governments, although families and
employers have also contributed.
One
hostage said £3 million was paid to free an Italian journalist held
with him. Italian diplomats are currently in the region trying to
negotiate freedom for two female aid workers.
IS
is copying tactics honed by rival terror groups. The New York Times
last month revealed Al Qaeda and its affiliates took £75 million from
kidnappings over the past six years, with £40 million handed over last
year alone. Yesterday, the United Nations called for concerted action to
save thousands of people trapped by the fanatics in the town of Amerli,
about 100 miles north of Baghdad.
Most
of the town’s 18,000 residents are Turkman Shia, descendants of Ottoman
Turks seen as apostates by IS forces that have besieged them for two
months. They are in a desperate state, with no electricity or drinking
water and are running out of food and medicines.
ISIS has specialised in kidnapping journalists and aid workers to ransom, torture and even murder
Yet
IS remains defiant, despite global outrage. A spokesman told The Mail
on Sunday that the message from the Foley murder was that they would
fight the US ‘by all means necessary – and not just by killing a
journalist’ – following US air strikes.
Abu
Obiada, a religious official with IS currently fighting on the
frontline against Kurds in Iraq, said Foley was killed despite his
innocence for the crimes of his country.
Alarmingly, he claimed the bloodstained group already had ‘sleepers’ ready to strike in this country.
‘Our message is to know that we have some people already in the UK and US who are ready to fight them there.’
‘We
will attack anyone who stands in the way of an expansion of the Islamic
State,’ he said. ‘There is no border we will stop at.’ Last night it
was revealed that a British militant fighting for IS has been killed
during a daring raid at a military air base in Syria.
Abu
Saif Al Britani was among 70 Islamic State terrorists killed as the
group attacked the Al-Tabqa airbase in Eastern Syria on Wednesday.
The IS attack on Al-Tabqa was expected for months, as it is the last Syrian army base left in the province of Raqqa.
On
Friday, a photograph of Abu Saif’s dead body appeared on the
micro-blogging site Twitter, posted by fellow IS terrorists. A tweet in
Arabic described Abu Saif as a British Bangladeshi who was in Saudi
Arabia teaching English.
Asbos for terrorists? No, let's tell them never to come back
By DAVID DAVIS
British
governments have historically taken an approach to the so-called ‘war
on terror’ that has been distinctly un-British – crude, heavy-handed,
careless of innocent people’s liberties, and as a result often
counterproductive.
Yet
our response to the flood of British Muslims that has left these shores
to fight in Syria and subsequently Iraq for an Islamic caliphate has
been tentative, uncertain, almost limp.
The
brutal, ritualised public murder of James Foley has crystallised the
psychopathic nature of what these young Britons have signed up to and in
some cases actively promoted.
Conservative MP David Davis, pictured, believes that Jihad John and his friends should never return to the UK
The
British intelligence agencies presumably knew what was going on. Yet
the Home Secretary’s response as recently as yesterday seemed lacking in
both focus and urgency. Asbos for terrorists? It is hard to imagine IS
killers quaking in their boots over that.
So
why have we done so little so far? We should target the young men who
have rushed to take up arms on behalf of IS, an organisation that
purports to be a state – and a hostile one at that. It is astonishing to
me that this action alone is viewed as legal, let alone what they do
once there.
Imagine
that in my youth during the Cold War, I had gone off to join the Soviet
Army with the intent of taking action against NATO, or that my father
had gone to join the Nazis in the Second World War. Those actions would
quite properly have been viewed as treason.
What
these young men have done is worse. Remember that in this day and age
even conventional ‘legal’ wars are essentially industrialised murder.
Civil
wars, and the sort of sectarian conflict we are seeing in Iraq and
Syria, are even worse, littered with the self-righteous sadism that we
saw in the death of James Foley. They are wars without rules. And be
clear. The barbarism we saw in the murder of Foley has been replicated
time and again against thousands of innocent Iraqis and Syrians.
Beheadings, crucifixions, burials alive have all been carried out
against people guilty of no crime, largely for the purpose of feeding
the IS propaganda machine.
David Davis said the young men are going to Iraq and Syria to participate in widespread murder and blackmail
These
young men are going to Syria to take part in large-scale murder for an
organisation with a $2 billion income from extortion, blackmail and
theft.
So
if it is not illegal already – hard to believe – let us make it so.
Going abroad to fight and kill for a cause hostile to Britain and its
NATO allies should be against British law and should carry a very heavy
sentence. But I would go further than that. Since these young men are in
effect swearing allegiance to a hostile state, they should all forfeit
their British citizenship – not just those who are dual nationals. Since
this is an incredibly serious penalty, it should be done only after a
proper public trial carrying all the public seriousness and opprobrium
of a murder trial, because in many cases that is what it would be.
As
the Home Secretary reiterated yesterday, lawyers would say you cannot
render someone stateless. Perhaps, perhaps not. Whitehall lawyers have
been wrong before. Democracies have a right to defend themselves.
IS
is claiming to be a state. They can issue these young men with Islamic
State passports if they so wish. It is not our problem that they would
have trouble getting into any civilised country with them. Neither will
it be our problem any more if ISIL ceases to exist.
We
must face head-on the paradox that these men can burn their British
passports on TV and deny their legal allegiance to Britain, yet our
nation cannot say to them, in effect: ‘OK, never come back.’
The
result would be that these young men would suddenly find their trip to
Syria is no longer a short violent holiday but a life sentence to the
lifestyle they claim to espouse, complete with Sharia law and a desert
climate. We are at a moment of decision. We can change or clarify
British law to make the evil actions of these young men illegal and to
make the penalty fit the crime: expulsion from the society they claim to
reject.
We
can do this in British courts and in doing so proclaim to the world
that we are a tolerant society, but that we will not tolerate sadism and
murder in the name of religion.
Or
we can fail to grasp the nettle, let some of these murderers back and
try to deal with the subsequent problems. This will allow some of these
men to put their new ‘skills’ to further ill use, with potentially
terrible consequences for our countrymen, resulting in ethnic suspicion
and the social poison that will flow from that.
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