The FBI has
identified the ISIS executioner who appears in the beheading videos of
US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker
John Haines.
Agency
director James Comes told reporters today that he knew who the militant
was but would not be releasing his identity or nationality to the
media.
The
executioner, who has a British accent and has been dubbed Jihadi John,
is one of four British jihadis known as the 'Beatles' holding hostages
in Syria.
He appears in the group’s execution videos wielding a knife – and taunts President Obama before carrying out the killings
Today
British officials would not say if the identity had been shared with
the authorities on London, and would not be drawn on whether any arrests
are imminent.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: 'We won't be commenting on matters of security at this stage.'
Comey added the FBI is still working hard to identify two people in ISIS videos who appear to have American or Canadian accents.
'We have a big focus going on that right now,' Comey said.
He
said the FBI believes that ISIS is 'looking to try to do something in
the U.S.,' but added he did not believe the group is capable of a
sophisticated or complex attack.
During
questioning from reporters at the FBI headquarters Comey also spoke
about Khorasan group, an al Qaeda affiliate who were targeted along with
ISIS by American airstrikes in Syria earlier this week.
He said he was 'not confident at all' the threat from Khorasan militant group was thwarted by the airstrikes.
'We don't have complete visibility about their activities.
'We
believe they've been working toward an attack, but it's hard to say
whether it would come tomorrow, in three weeks, or in three months,' he
said.
FBI Director James Comey (pictured)
told reporters today that he knew who the militant was but would not be
releasing his identity or nationality to the media. The executioner, who
has a British accent, is one of four British jihadis known as the
'Beatles' holding hostages in Syria
Comey said about a dozen Americans are believed to be fighting with extremist groups in Syria at the moment.
He says more than 100 Americans have either tried to go to Syria and been arrested, gone successfully, or gone and come back.
The figure of 100 has often been misinterpreted to represent the number of U.S. citizens fighting in Syria.
Comey
says all the Americans who have returned after fighting with extremist
groups are either under investigation, under surveillance or have been
arrested.
The director says he's not confident the U.S. has identified every American who had joined up with militants in Syria.
The masked
man was seen in the execution videos of American journalists James
Foley, 40, (right) and Steven Sotloff, 31 (left). Comey did not address
whether U.S. believes man actually carried out the killings
British aid worker, David Haines, 44,
was seen in a gruesome video with Jihadi John before his death. Today
British officials would not say if the identity had been shared with the
authorities on London, and would not be drawn on whether any arrests
are imminent
Yesterday British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond revealed intelligence agencies were closing the net on Jihadi John.
Hammond,
who just ten days ago admitted special forces didn't know where the
Islamic terror group was holding its British hostages, said the
investigation into tracking down the killer with the British accent was
'narrowing down the field'.
Speaking
to American television network CNN at the United Nations summit in New
York, Mr Hammond said: 'We are getting warm, we are working on all the
leads.
'There's
a big investigation and we are getting warm. We're narrowing down the
field, but I don't want to say any more at this stage.'
Earlier
this week it was revealed that US spy planes are flying above Britain
monitoring telephone and computer signals in a bid to track down Jihadi
John and those who are communicating with him.
The
aircraft, manned by British pilots and carrying FBI agents, are
equipped with technology so advanced they can detect heat coming off a
keyboard when a button is pressed.
A source revealed Jihadi John, comes from a South London suburb about 10 miles from Central London.
The signals and data collected by the spy planes is being sent back to the US to be analysed, the Sunday Express reported.
An
FBI source told the paper: 'Electronic footprints might help us
pinpoint the location of the British IS executioner because we believe
there are associates of his in the UK who are directly communicating
with him.'
A formation of US Navy F-18E Super
Hornets refueling having carried out airstrikes on targets linked to
ISIS. Comey said he was 'not confident at all' the threat from Khorasan
militant group was thwarted by the airstrikes
Strong presence: Military leaders have
said about two-thirds of the estimated 31,000 Islamic State militants
were in Syria. The U.S. has also been increasing its surveillance
flights over Syria, getting better intelligent on potential targets and
militant movements
International
revulsion after the scenes were posted on the internet sparked a
massive manhunt by British and American security services and the
investigation has now focused on a district about ten miles from Central
London.
It's also believed the planes are being used to study the movements of Jihadi John's suspected Midlands associates.
An
intelligence services source said the delicate detection equipment on
board the planes had previously been used successfully to work out a
suspected terrorist's computer password because of the heat signature
left on the keys.
The
intelligence source said the surveillance plane had recently been used
over Birmingham in relation to Junaid Hussain - who is suspected of
being one of the so-called 'Beatles' holding hostages.
Defiant: A fluttering ISIS flag is
flown over a hill in Tel Abyad, on the Syrian-Turkish border. The area,
which is in the heart of the Raqqa countryside, has been the subject of
numerous coalition airstrikes
The
planes are understood to be military aircraft which are sometimes used
by the police to find escaped prisoners or stolen vehicles.
The
US Senate has also offered a £6 million reward to anyone providing
information that could lead to the capture of Jihadi John.
A
team of more than a dozen US investigators from an FBI Joint Terrorism
Task Force flew to the UK, where they are working with MI5 and
anti-terrorist officers from the Metropolitan Police Force to identify
the man.
It is believed family members of Jihadi John have been interviewed by Met officers and an FBI agent.
The
source said Jihadi John was known to the security services even before
he went to Syria, but had been regarded as a 'low-level player'.
It
is believed he did know some of the terrorists convicted in the 2006
'liquid bomb' plot to blow up ten airliners bound from the UK to the US
in mid-flight over the Atlantic.
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