ISIS video turns focus to banned body in UK

If London-born convert Abu Rumaysah is confirmed as the front man in the latest Islamic State (ISIS) video, then he will be just the latest in a long line of militants to emerge from a banned group the authorities say breeds easy prey for jihadist recruiters.

The video, purportedly filmed in Syria, shows a masked man taunting British Prime Minister David Cameron in London-accented English, before five prisoners are killed.

Officials have not confirmed the man’s identity. But British media such as the BBC, citing voice experts, say it sounds like past recordings of Abu Rumaysah, born Siddharta Dhar to a London Hindu family, who for many years gave speeches and interviews as a prominent figure in the group al-Muhajiroun.

His sister has told the media the voice of the militant in the video sounds like her brother although she was not sure it was him.

The group was founded by Syrian-born Islamist cleric Omar Bakri in the late 1990s and called for Sharia law in Britain. It was banned under anti-terrorist laws in 2010.

Its leaders have maintained that they do not support violence, acting under a “covenant of security” that requires Muslims in non-Muslim countries to submit to the authorities. The group gained media notoriety in Britain after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.