TerrorismJames Foley’s killers linked to British kidnapping network
Right before American journalist James Foley was taken hostage in Syria in November of 2012, British security officials arrested and charged three British citizens who were allegedly members of a an Islamic terrorist kidnapping ring involved in the disappearance of two other Western journalists. Now, some are beginning to see a connection between his death and the organization operating in the United Kingdom.
Right before American journalist James Foley was taken hostage in Syria in November of 2012, British security officials arrested and charged three British citizens who were allegedly members of a an Islamic terrorist kidnapping ring involved in the disappearance of two other Western journalists. Now, some are beginning to see a connection between his death and the organization operating in the United Kingdom.
As theDaily Beast reports, now that Foley’s gruesome execution has received worldwide attention, many are reexamining the role of groups associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), one of the most rapidly growing and powerful terrorist networks within the Middle East.
The case in London is notable since it represents the growing difficulty that the British government is having in dealing with its own citizens as they wage jihad in Syria and work with ISIS.
According to one U.S. intelligence official who spoke with theDaily Beast, counterterrorism agencies are taking a new look at suspected militants like these. “There is not official product on this yet for the intelligence community,” they said, “But people who are out there and collecting on this believe the [Foley] abduction and the [Islam] trial are connected.”
One issue for security forces, however, is the lack of reliable information to make a connection. As Global Post managing editor Lizz Tomei explained, much of the information linking Foley’s death to other militants has turned out to be wrong. Previously he was thought to be held by Syrian Air Force Intelligence, not ISIS. “That is information that changed in the course of our investigation,” she said.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond added that “We are very concerned by the apparent fact that the murder in question is British. We are urgently investigating.”
Many view future cases of British Jihadists as a new opportunity to lean more and perhaps disrupt the network.
“We’ve been playing catch-up along with the worst foreign-fighter flows that we’ve seen in the modern terrorist era,” said former U.S. counterterrorism official Juan Zarate, “The British government has been sounding the alarm for a long time about the threat of foreign fighters and trying to do their best, but they have had trouble tracking that flow in an environment that is incredibly open.”
