Siddhartha Dhar is the focus of British investigations into the latest propaganda video from ISIS, in which a British-sounding militant threatens and insults Prime Minister David Cameron, according to media reports.
Dhar, a British man, reportedly fled Britain in 2014 while on bail, after being arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism. His name was mentioned during a parliamentary debate by Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham.
Burnham asked UK Home Secretary Theresa May about reports in the British media that the man who appeared in the video was Dhar.
Dhar’s sister has told various media outlets that the militant could be Dhar and that the audio on the tape resembles her brother’s voice. But she also has said that the man in the video does not look like her brother. CNN was unsuccessful in its attempts to reach the sister.
May declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.
In the video, the militant suspected of being Dhar is featured with an English-speaking child, who says that ISIS will kill “kuffar” — nonbelievers — “over there,” referring to the West.
The militant addresses Cameron directly, calling the UK Prime Minister a “slave of the White House” and an “imbecile.”
After his speech, five captives, dressed in orange jumpsuits similar to those that ISIS has made previous executed captives wear, are killed with a gunshot to the back of the head.
The speaker’s British accent and dress bring to mind the previous masked face of the terror group, Mohammed Emwazi, otherwise known as “Jihadi John.”
Emwazi was understood to have been killed in Raqqa late last year in an airstrike that specifically targeted the Briton. His absence lends credence to Western intelligence agencies’ belief that he is indeed dead.
