France President François Hollande Confirms Second French Man in ISIS Video of US Worker Peter Kassig's Beheading
Mickael Dos Santos, a 22-year-old Muslim convert from a Parisian suburb, has been identified by the French media as the second French executioner featured in the latest video released by the Islamic State group ISIS.
Santos, who hails from Champigny-sur-Marne, east of the French capital, appears in the footage that shows the killing of a group of Syrian soldiers along with U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig.
Authorities had earlier singled out a 22-year-old man named Maxime Hauchard from Normandy as one of the jihadists in the video.
"In addition to Maxime Hauchard, specific and solid evidence has been collected identifying the presence of a second Frenchman: Mickael Dos Santos," French prosecutor François Molins said according to France 24,
Speaking in Canberra, Australia, President François Hollande confirmed that a second French national appeared in the video but stopped short of identifying him.
"All we can say for now is that there are two French people who have been identified," he said.
After converting to Islam four and a half years ago and subsequently drifting towards extremism, Dos Santos is believed to have travelled to Syria in August 2013, where he is known by fellow militants by the name Abou Uthman. He reportedly holds a Twitter account under the same name and his postings include numerous photos depicting killings and the beheadings of rival fighters as well as combat scenes.
Last year, according to Reuters, French judges opened a preliminary investigation against Hauchard on suspicion that he was conspiring to commit terrorist acts. Hauchard previously said in an interview with French television that his goal in joining the Islamic State was to become a martyr.
More than 2,000 Europeans, a number which includes hundreds of French Islamists, are believed to have joined fighting in the civil war-torn country of Syria.
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