James Foley 'beheaded by group of British jihadists nicknamed The Beatles led by militant called John' A former hostage has claimed the group of three British fighters were given their nickname because of their nationality James Foley was beheaded by a group of British jihadist fighters known as "The Beatles" because of their nationality, it has been claimed tonight. Militants belonging to Islamic State released horrifying video footage yesterday which showed the killing of Mr Foley, two years after he was kidnapped while working in Syria. US intelligence officials said today they believe the footage - in which a masked rebel is heard speaking English with a British accent - is genuine. And after David Cameron said it appeared "increasingly likely" that those responsible for the murder were British, sources told the Guardian that the man seen on the film is the leader of a group of three British fighters holding hostages in Syria. As British intelligence services race to work out who the man is, one of his former hostages told the newspaper that the militant in the video called himself John and is thought to be from London. The three British jihadist fighters were nicknamed "The Beatles" by hostages because of their home country. Linguistics expert Dr Claire Hardaker said earlier today the voice of the man who fronted the video of Mr Foley's killing indicated he definitely was British, and backed up suggestions he is from London.

• published: 20 Aug 2014
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