Amidst the slew of propaganda videos aimed at recruiting foreign fighters to the ranks of Islamic State (IS), a recent one showing a masked man with a North American accent presiding over the execution of captives has led to a massive manhunt here for the identity of the killer.
The latest search comes in the wake of a multi-nation probe seeking a British-accented man seen in a series of videos showing the beheading of two American and two British men, a quest that recently reported some success amidst rumours that the man may be British rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary.
This week, IS released a video showing a man with a North American, possibly a U.S., accent, switching seamlessly between Arabic and English as he watches prisoners, whom he describes as members of the Bashar Al-Assad regime, dig their own graves and then proceeds to lead a group of other masked men to shoot them in the head and push them in.
On Wednesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) put out a public notice seeking the assistance of anyone who may recognise the voice of the man in the video, encouraging them to provide an anonymous tip to law enforcement agencies.
The search for the second IS executioner highlights the growing concern for numerous countries about radicalised citizens travelling to West Asia to participate in jihad alongside the militant outfit.
