US 'has identified' Islamic State hostage executioner

The United States believes it has identified the masked ISIL militant who murdered two kidnapped American journalists and a British aid worker in separate videotaped beheadings, according to FBI chief James Comey.

Mr Comey did not give the man’s name or nationality and declined to give further details on the suspect.

The jihadist group triggered global outrage when it released videos of a man with a British accent killing James Foley and Steven Sotloff, freelance journalists who were kidnapped in Syria.

British man David Haines was executed in a third video.

The executioner made specific threats to US president Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron in the beheading clips, condemning military attacks on the group in Iraq.

“Any attempt by you, Obama, to deny the Muslims their rights of living in safety under the Islamic Caliphate will result in the bloodshed of your people,” he said in Foley’s beheading video.

The group last week released a video of another kidnapped reporter, British photojournalist John Cantlie, promising to reveal the “truth” behind ISIL in a series of news-style programs.

UK intelligence authorities had earlier named 24-year-old former London resident and rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary as the chief suspect in the hunt for the masked man.

It has not been confirmed whether Bary is also the man identified by US intelligence.