The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified the Islamic State (IS) militant dubbed “Jihadi John”, while British politicians discuss possible UK involvement in air strikes on Iraq.
FBI director James Comey has confirmed that investigators know the name of the man shown speaking in a London accent in the recent series of gruesome IS beheading videos. However, he refused to give the man’s name publicly.
Jihadi John has been described as one of a number of Britons charged with detaining hostages, which some of those released or escaped have dubbed “The Beatles”.
This information comes as UK politicians discuss launching RAF air strikes against IS positions within Iraq, after a formal request was made for British help by the Iraqi government, which the legal summary of the motion argues makes action permissible.
Both Labour leader Ed Miliband and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg have said that they will support the air strikes, however the motion is limited to Iraq and there would need to be further discussions before the UK would join the US and Arab states in strikes within Syria.
The motion also states that ground troops will not be deployed in “ground combat operations” against IS, but this does not rule out British troops carrying out intelligence gathering or possible rescue operations.
