The Militant who Beheaded James Foley may be a Londoner

The  Islamic State militant who killed U.S. journalist James Foley may be a Londoner, according to The Guardian.

Various linguistic experts' opinion was sought to pinpoint the accent of the militant.

 "He probably has a foreign language background but it sounds like multicultural London English, which is people from all kinds of backgrounds who mix in the East End, a new kind of cockney," said Prof Paul Kerswill, a linguistics expert at the University of York.

Another linguistics expert, Dr Claire Hardaker of Lancaster University, opined that the man's vowels indicate that he is likely from the south-east of England, but most likely from London.

The militant who called himself John in the video showing the killing of Foley, is  said to be the ringleader of a three member British-born militants, who are thought to be the main guards of foreign hostages in Raqqa, an Islamic State stronghold.  He is also said to be the chief negotiator of the militants during talks earlier this year to free 11 Islamic State hostages. The man also served as the main person for hostage negotiations in Raqqa and is said to have held negotiations with families of jailed foreign nationals through the internet. 

The three member group was called Beatles by the hostages because of their nationality.

A former hostage, who was held in Raqqa for a year, described the ringleader as  educated, intelligent and a staunch believer of radical Islam, reports the Guardian.

The man also seems to be one of the 500 British-born jihadists hardened by the Islamic State, after they left Britain to fight in Syria and Iraq, according to counter-terrorism experts.

Professor Peter Neumann, director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization, at King's College London, is of the opinion that an English-speaking militant was chosen intentionally so as to cause maximum impact in the West.