A
notorious Belgian Muslim extremist is among the cold-blooded killers
who appear in the latest Islamic State murder video it emerged today, as
a massive international manhunt got underway to identify the other men
who brutally behead a group of at least 18 Syrian soldiers.
Although
Belgian authorities have yet to formally confirm his identity, friends
and neighbours say Abdelmajid Gharmaoui, 28, from the Flemish town of
Vilvoorde, is among the savage killers.
Known
to have been a member of the radical group Sharia4Belgium and with
links to radical groups across Europe, Gharmaoui - who now uses the nom
de guerre Abu Dujanna - is pictured wearing battle fatigues and a thick
black beard as his fellow militants stand over their victims.
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Terror: Although Belgian authorities
have yet to formally confirm his identity, friends and neighbours say
this man is Abdelmajid Gharmaoui - a 28-year-old notorious Belgian
Muslim extremist from the town of Vilvoorde
Sick: Gharmaoui is known to have been a
member of the radical group Sharia4Belgium and have links with radical
groups across Europe. He is understood to now be using the nom de guerre
Abu Dujanna
Killers: Number 1
has been identified as a Belgian fighter named Abdelmajid Gharmaoui,
28, who uses the nom de guerre Abu Dujana. Number 2 is a Frenchman who
calls himself Abou Uthman. Number 3 is ISIS' killer in chief Jihadi John
who famously speaks with a London accent. Number 4 is a man
investigators initially believed to be Cardiff medical student Nasser
Muthana but are understood to have since ruled out. Kurdish soldiers
have identified number 5 as a Filipino national. Number 6 is French
22-year-old Maxime Hauchard
Earlier
another of the killers was positively identified as 22-year-old
Frenchman Maxime Hauchard - who friends described as a mild-mannered
former Catholic who used to sell scooter parts in Normandy until his
conversion to Islam at the age of 17.
This
morning it emerged that a second Frenchman, Abou Uthman, has been
identified among the murderers and - with Jihadi John, another possible
Briton and a German also among the lineup - one investigator branded
the ISIS execution squad as a 'European union of killers'
Gharmaoui
left for Syria in October 2012, saying he wanted to fight jihad, and
was last placed in the village of Dabiq, where the sickening video was
recorded.
Hans
Bonte, the mayor of Vilvoorde, said the 'rumour had been circulating
for some months' that Gharmaoui was fighting in Syria fighting, adding
that the kind of 'heinous acts seen on the video are hugely worrying'.
Mr
Bonte said there was a huge local problem with 'youths being
radicalised' in Vilvoorde, adding that he is introducing a bill to
withdraw the travel documents of suspected jihadists who want to travel
to war-torn countries such as Iraq and Syria.
Terrorist: Frenchman Maxime Hauchard,
22, has been positively identified as appearing in the sickening video
in which at least 18 Syrian soldiers are decapitated
Callous:
Kurdish sources familiar with the movement of ISIS militants in Syria
and Iraq identified this unnamed killer from the latest ISIS beheading
video as a Filipino national
Confirmation
of Gharmaoui's participation in the video - in which the severed head
of American aid worker Peter Kassig is also pictured - comes as fresh
details emerged about 22-year-old Frenchman Maxime Hauchard, who is also
among the group of killers.
Dressed
in battle fatigues and wearing a thick beard, the once 'ordinary French
lad' is seen dragging his victim to the execution site where he and a
large group of ISIS militants - including the killer known as Jihadi
John - force the Syrian soldiers to kneel before brutally beheading
them.
Hauchard,
who converted to Islam from Catholicism five years ago at the age of
17, appeared on French television in July where he described life as a
fighter for the Islamic State in Syria as being 'like a holiday' and
said that he was looking forward to dying so that he could become a
'martyr'.
Former
neighbours in the quiet Normandy village of Bosc-Roger-en-Roumois,
where Hauchard grew up, expressed outrage and astonishment at the images
of the 22-year-old in the latest ISIS murder video.
'It's not the Maxime we knew,' said one, who lives a few doors along from the Hauchard family home, near Rouen.
'Maxime did well at school, and we often saw him mowing the lawn or enjoying himself with his friends. He got on with everyone.
'He
drank alcohol, and liked to party, but was never any trouble to his
parents. He was just an ordinary French lad from a Catholic family.'
Killer: Former 'mild mannered' Catholic Maxime Hauchard (right) appeared in the latest Islamic State video
The Normandy family home of an alleged
Islamic jihadist - named by the French Interior Minister Bernard
Cazeneuve as French national Maxime Hauchard - is photographed yesterday
morning
Hauchard's
retired parents were seen leaving their detached home this morning and
were described as being 'absolutely mortified' by one of their
neighbours.
He
converted to Islam from Catholicism when he was 17 in 2009, but
embracing a new religion initially appeared to have little impact on his
day-to-day life.
In March 2010 he started an internet company called 'Scoot Destock', selling scooter parts by mail.
But
Paris prosecutors today confirmed that Hauchard, who now uses the nom
de guerre Abou Abdallah Al Faransi, is indeed one of the Islamic State
killers in the terror group's latest video.
A
statement reads: 'Circumstantial evidence confirms the involvement of a
Frenchman in the decapitation of Syrian prisoners shown in an Islamic
State video released on Sunday.'
Referring
to images of the butchery posted on Sunday, France's Interior Minister
Bernard Cazeneuve said: 'The posted video has been analysed by
intelligence services, and this analysis appears to establish with a
very strong probability that a French national may have directly
participated in carrying out these abject crimes.'
Mr
Cazeneuve said Hauchard travelled to Syria to join the terror group in
August 2013 after spending time in the French speaking north African
country Mauritania.
Earlier appearance: Maxime Hauchard
was interviewed by the news channel BFM TV in July (pictured), saying he
was a convert to Islam who had travelled to wage jihad in Syria
Mr Brisard said Hauchard was born into a Christian family in Normandy, and became a Muslim aged 17
Hauchard
was interviewed by the news channel BFM TV in July, saying he was a
convert to Islam who had travelled to wage jihad in Syria.
In
the BFM TV report Hauchard said he travelled to war torn Syria on his
own via Turkey and eventually ended up in the city of Raqqa - ISIS' de
facto capital.
He said was involved in a special mission in which he is prepared to die as a martyr.
French
police also said that a second French fighter may have been involved in
the sickening murders. The second man has been unofficially identified
as a militant who uses the nom de guerre Abou Uthman and who regularly
uses social media to interact with his followers.
Interior
Ministry sources in Paris have confirmed that France's intelligence
services are chasing up information about the two possible suspects.
In the sickening video a group of Syrian soldiers are marched to their execution site by Islamic State militants
Chilling:
ISIS' British chief executioner Jihadi John is pictured right, while the
terror groups's leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi is seen on the left
As
well as French intelligence experts, analsts from Britain, Europe, the
U.S., the Middle East, Asia and Australia and New Zealand are poring
over the footage to try and put names to the faces in the latest Islamic
State murder video.
Speaking
last night David Cameron said that the world must unite against the
jihadis. In the video the militant known as Jihadi John threatened that
ISIS will commit murder on the streets of Britain.
'We
will not be cowed by these sick terrorists. They will be defeated and
they must face the justice they deserve,' the Prime Minister said.
Yesterday
there were claims that one of the men in the footage was Cardiff
medical student turned Islamic State militant Nasser Muthana, 20.
The
Times this morning claimed to have commissioned a team of facial
recognition experts who have since ruled him out as the man in the
video.
In the sickening video, only the severed head of American hostage Peter Kassig (pictured) is seen
Peter Kassig is pictured while working as an aid worker in Syria before
his capture. His murder is not actually shown in the latest film and he
does not deliver a final message as other hostages have done
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