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The masked executioner in the latest execution video by Islamic State (IS) is believed to be a Briton, BBC reported Tuesday.
Siddhartha Dhar, also known as Abu Rumaysah from Walthamstow in east London, was the focus of probes into the video, an official source was quoted by BBC as saying.
Dhar, 32-year-old former bouncy castle salesman, was born a Hindu but converted to Islam. He had been arrested in 2014 on suspicion of encouraging terrorism, but later fled Britain and traveled to Syria while on bail.
The father-of-four had joined the radical group al-Muhajiroun in Britain, according to BBC.
Following the revelation, British security authorities have been questioned over why Dhar was able to travel to Syria with his family under the noses of the security services.
"How can someone on bail for terrorism-related offences travel to Syria? Serious lapse in security and inquiry needed," tweeted Andy Burnham, Britain's shadow home secretary, and a member of the Parliament.
British security and intelligence authorities have been examining the video and are working to identify the masked man.
In the video released on Sunday, the masked IS executioner with British accent threatened to invade Britain and called British Prime Minister David Cameron an "imbecile," before executing five men who appeared shackled and dressed in orange boiler suits. They were accused of spying against the IS for Britain.
Cameron on Monday condemned the video as "desperate stuff" from an organization that is "losing anybody's sympathy."
"It's desperate stuff from an organization that really does do the most utterly despicable and ghastly acts and people can see that again today," Cameron said during a visit to east London on Monday.
"But this is an organization that's losing territory, it's losing ground, it's, I think, increasingly losing anybody's sympathy, and this again shows what an appalling organization we' re up against," he added.
This is not the first time for a British citizen to appear as a killer in IS execution videos. Mohammed Emwazi, aka "Jihadi John," had also been pictured in several videos showing beheadings of western hostages.
In November last year, the U.S. military launched a drone strike targeting Emwazi, reportedly killing the infamous black-clad Kuwaiti-born Briton from west London.
British warplanes have been bombing IS targets in Iraq since September 2014. British military extended its airstrikes against the group from Iraq to Syria last month.
