FBI Has New Leads from ISIS Tip Line
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FBI(NEW YORK) — A day after a public appeal for help, the FBI said it is running down new leads in its effort to track Americans who may have joined ISIS, possibly including a man with a “North American” accent who appeared in a recent ISIS propaganda video presiding over the execution of prisoners.
“The FBI tips website that was announced yesterday has received a substantial number of web visits, some of which have generated leads,” the Bureau said Wednesday. “We continue to call on the public to report suspicious activity of travelers in support of a terrorist organization or information about the subject speaking with a North American accent in the video issued by ISIL on September 19.”
On Tuesday, the FBI announced on its website it had established a new tip line devoted to information about U.S. persons who have joined or want to join ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, at www.fbi.gov/ISILtips. As noted in the FBI statement Wednesday, in particular, the Bureau wants to identify that man with the North American accent featured in ISIS’ 55-minute-long “Flames of War” video from mid-September.
“In the video, a man whose face is obscured by a mask alternates seamlessly between English and Arabic in pro-ISIL [ISIS] pronouncements intended to appeal to a Western audience,” the web post Tuesday read. “Dressed in desert camouflage and wearing a shoulder holster, the masked man can be seen standing in front of purported prisoners as they dig their own graves and then later presiding over their executions.”
“The FBI needs your help identifying the individuals in this video as well as anyone traveling abroad to join terrorist groups,” said the FBI post.
Top U.S. security officials estimate some 100 Americans have joined the fighting in Iraq and Syria on the side of various militant groups — around a dozen or so for ISIS.
In addition to American recruits, the FBI has been working with its counterparts in Britain to identify another infamous masked ISIS member — the British-accented man who appears in the videos that purport to show the beheadings of Western hostages. FBI Director James Comey said last month the Bureau has identified that man.
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