A London rapper is being investigated in the hunt for a terrorist dubbed 'Jihadi John' who is accused of executing American photojournalist James Foley in Syria.

Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 24, from west London, also known as 'L Jinny', is one of three British jihadis whose activities are reportedly being probed by police over the brutal killing.

Security services are also believed to be hunting Abu Hussain Al-Britani, 20, and Abu Abdullah al-Britani, who is in his 20s, as they investigate Islamic State extremists, previously known as Isis.

Bary, who is fighting in Syria under the name Abu Kalashnikov, posted a gruesome picture of himself holding a severed human head on social media just weeks before Mr Foley was beheaded.

The former musician was raised in a Maida Vale council-owned home worth £1 million and has had his songs played on BBC radio stations.

He is the son of high-profile Al Qaeda terror suspect Adel Abdul Bary, who was extradited to the US in 2012 over allegations he masterminded the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in East Africa.

On Friday, one former IS hostage said Mr Foley's killer was leader of a group of three or four British jihadists, known as the “Beatles”, who are believed to be the main guards of foreign captives at the IS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria.

It is thought the executioner, believed to be a Londoner, Skyped with Mr Foley’s family in a bid to persuade them to pay a ransom, though some experts believe the IS man in the video may not have actually carried out the murder.