French police were probing whether a man seen in a video released by the Islamic State group yesterday purporting to show the execution of an Arab Israeli was close to French jihadist gunman Mohamed Merah.
In the video, a youth identifying himself as 19-year-old Mohammed Said Ismail Musallam is shown kneeling in front of a boy who appears to be no more than 12 years old. A man stands at his side.
Muhammad Said Ismail Musallam, an Arab from East Jerusalem held captive by the Islamic State group for allegedly being a Mossad spy, shown in a video apparently showing his execution, March 10, 2015. ( screen capture: YouTube)
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit that is standard in videos of IS executions, the man seen kneeling recounts how he was recruited by Israeli intelligence, a claim his father denies.
The man standing nearby, speaking in French, issues threats against Jews in France, before the boy walks around in front of the hostage and shoots him in the forehead using a pistol.
The boy, who shouts “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest” in Arabic), then shoots the man four more times as he lies on the ground.
“We are checking” the identity of the man, a police source who wished to remain anonymous told AFP.
Several experts, including journalist David Thomson who wrote a book about French jihadists, say the man is Sabri Essid, reportedly the half-brother of Merah who shot dead three soldiers in southern France in 2012 before killing three students and a teacher at a Jewish school more than a week later.
Toulouse killer Mohammed Merah, seen in a home video (photo credit: France 2)
— AFP
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