Paris says 'strong possibility' Frenchman in ISIL execution video

PARIS - Agence France-Presse

An image grab taken from a propaganda video released on November 16, 2014 by al-Furqan Media allegedly shows members of the ISIL jihadists preparing the simultaneous beheadings of at least 15 men described as Syrian military personnel. AFP Photo

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Nov. 17 there was a "strong possibility" one of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists seen unmasked in a video claiming the execution of a US aid worker and Syrian soldiers was a French citizen.
      
"The video was analysed by our intelligence services," said Cazeneuve, adding there was a "strong possibility that a French citizen was directly involved in these despicable crimes."       

The man is seen in a gruesome video released on Sunday that shows the head of American Peter Kassig and the beheadings of at least 18 men described as Syrian military personnel.
      
Cazeneuve said the man was believed to be Maxime Hauchard, born in 1992, in Normandy in northern France who "left for Syria in August 2013 after a stay in Mauritania in 2012."       

An intelligence source said it was being verified whether a second French citizen was among the jihadists seen in the video.