- Mohammed Reza Haque, 36, has been described as 'the new Jihadi John'
- He has killed in the same manner as infamous Islamic State murderers
- Haque has been a follower and bodyguard of Choudary since at least 2011
Mohammed Reza Haque, 36, is described as 'the new Jihadi John'
A British extremist who guarded hate cleric Anjem Choudary has appeared on camera beheading a terrified victim in cold blood.
Mohammed Reza Haque, 36, is described as 'the new Jihadi John' after killing in the same manner as the infamous Islamic State murderer who beheaded five Western hostages in propaganda videos.
Haque, a follower and bodyguard of Choudary since at least 2011, is dressed in black from head to foot and uses a serrated hunting knife to behead a prisoner against a bleak desert backdrop – just like the chilling videos featuring 'Jihadi John' Mohamed Emwazi, 27.
Emwazi was responsible for the deaths of Britons David Haines, 44, and Alan Henning, 47, as well as Americans James Foley, 40, Steven Sotloff, 31, and Peter Kassig, 26, before being killed by a US drone strike on Raqqa in November 2015.
Haque, from Bethnal Green, East London, was previously photographed and filmed in countless UK demonstrations with extremist preacher Choudary, jailed in September for inciting support for IS.
In 2011, Haque was filmed burning poppies near the Albert Hall on Remembrance Sunday.
Haque – nicknamed 'Giant' – and fellow extremists chanted 'Burn British soldiers, burn in hell' as nearby crowds observed a two-minute silence. Then the group burned poppies.
Mohammed Reza Haque (second right) moments before he beheads his victim in a new video
Haque was charged with a public order offence, along with fellow extremist Emdadur Choudhury, now 31. Astonishingly, Haque was cleared at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court through lack of evidence. Choudhury was fined a paltry £50.
In early 2014, Haque fled to Syria, despite being on the radar of MI5 and anti-terrorist police as a known extremist and bodyguard to Choudary. He reportedly flew to Cyprus, and then Istanbul, before travelling by land to the Syrian border.
In Syria, Haque has encouraged others to leave Britain and join IS.
The latest IS video, first seen by jihadi watchers a week ago, shows the beheadings of five men accused of spying for the New Syria Army – a group made up of soldiers who have fled Assad's army, now being used by the US to target IS militants.
The 14-minute video, released by IS's Amaq media wing, shows the men apparently confessing to spying for the NSA, followed by their executions. They are made to wear orange jumpsuits – like the prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay – and to kneel on the ground as five black-clad IS executioners stand behind them.
The tall figure of Haque stands second from right, his terrified victim in front of him. An unidentified jihadi delivers a speech in Arabic, saying: 'These apostates who kneel, disbelieved and fell into apostasy, and championed the Crusaders and helped them against Muslims.
Anjem Choudary outside Regents Park mosque in 2013 alongside Mohammed Reza Haque
'They thought they were safe, but God shamed them, and they will be slaughtered by this knife which will slaughter those like them.'
The five jihadis then grab each victim by their hair and behead them. The executions are shown in graphic detail and the video ends with Haque and his fellow jihadis standing in front of the victims' bodies.
The video was released last week on jihadi social media accounts, as IS militias recaptured Palmyra, nine months after being driven out of the ancient Syrian city.
The video appears to be a defiant message by IS as the Iraqi army attacks its stronghold of Mosul, while Kurdish forces tighten the noose around Raqqa, the terror group's de facto capital in Syria.
Like other IS videos, the film contains Hollywood-style camera and sound effects and was clearly created to instil fear.
This is the second IS execution video Haque is believed to have featured in. In January, he was identified as one of five masked jihadis who executed five alleged spies by shooting them in the back of the head, again in a Syrian desert.
Dr Shiraz Maher, an IS expert at the department of war studies at King's College, London, said: 'Some people dismissed the radical network that surrounded Anjem Choudary as clownish.
Yet scores of individuals, like Haque, from that cluster have travelled to Syria from Britain and now pose a very significant security risk. They're not there to take a back seat.'
- A notorious British extremist nicknamed 'Jihadi Jackass' – after being filmed nearly blowing himself up with a suicide belt – has reportedly been killed in Syria while fighting for IS.
- Gezim Klokoci, 19, is believed to have died last week as IS retook the Syrian city of Palmyra. Klokoci, from Finsbury Park, North London, was popular on social media among extremists.
- He attended City and Islington College before quitting and travelling to Syria a year ago.
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