British officials are close to identifying the IS jihadi dubbed "John The Jailer" who beheaded American journalist James Foley, Britain's ambassador to the United States, Peter Westmacott said.
Westmacott said on Sunday he couldn't elaborate on the identity of the killer, who executed the journalist, adding the authorities were putting a great deal into the search, the CNN reports.
Based on the assailant's voice, linguists have concluded that the jihadi was below 30 and seems to have been educated in England from a young age.
They further deduced from his voice that he was from southern England or London.
Foley was working as a freelancer for the U.S.-based online news outlet GlobalPost when he was abducted by IS militants on November 22, 2012, in northwest Syria, near the border with Turkey.
The IS recently released a video showing Foley being beheaded by a masked British jihadi.
The footage has drawn worldwide outrage and U.S. President Barack Obama has reportedly vowed that the United States will be "relentless" in striking back against ISIS.
Meanwhile, Britain's elite special forces along with U.S. special forces are forming a unit called Task Force Black to hunt down the killer of James Foley and smash the Islamic State.
