A rapper from Britain whose father awaits trial in Manhattan for a pair of bombings at the U.S. Embassy is the number one suspect in the beheading of American journalist James Foley, The New York Post reported on Friday.
Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 24 - who tweeted a photo of himself holding up a severed head - was one of three British nationals who were identified as possibly being the masked beheader known as "John the Beatle." Bary is the son of an Egyptian militant who is on trial for terror charges relating to the 1998 bombing of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
He was an aspiring rapper from West London who went by the stage name "L Jinny" before he became a jihadist, and his music was played on BBC Radio 1.
He was allegedly radicalized by followers of Islamic preacher Anjem Coudary and left his family's home in the Maida Vale district of London in 2013, telling his family that he was "leaving everything for the sake of Allah," according to The New York Post.
Bary was seen in a photo posted to Twitter earlier this month wearing camouflage clothing and a black balaclava while holding a severed head with his hand. This is believed to be the same hand that was seen drawing a knife across Foley's throat in the video documenting his death.
The brother of a British doctor once charged with kidnapping two Western war correspondents are also under investigation, as well as a former gang member who converted to Islam and traveled to Syria.
The three men, known as "John," "George," and "Ringo" started a kidnapping gang that may have targeted Westerners, including Foley. The hostages regarded the group as violent jailers, who commonly beat their prisoners and tortured them with tasters, according to The Sunday Mirror.
ISIS is believed to be holding three other Americans hostage in addition to Foley. Steven Sotloff, one of the three Americans, was threatened with beheading by the "John" militant at the end of the video released last week.
