London hip-hop artist Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary key suspect in beheading of James Foley.

London hip-hop artist Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary key suspect in beheading of James Foley. .(SundayTimes).

A BRITISH hip-hop artist has emerged as a key suspect in the hunt for the killer of the US journalist James Foley.

Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 23, from Maida Vale, west London, is understood to have become a crucial part of investigations by counterterrorism police and MI5.

Whitehall and police officials have told The Sunday Times that MI5 is now certain of the identity of the British jihadist who appeared in the beheading video posted by Isis, also known as the Islamic State, last week.

Bary, 23, is the son of an Egyptian-born militant who is awaiting trial on terror charges in New York tied to the deadly 1998 bombings of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Former hostages held by ISIS have said he is one of several jihadists they nicknamed “the Beatles” due to their British accents, with two of his cronies referred to as “George” and “Ringo.”

Bary — who recently tweeted a photo of himself holding up a severed head — was among three Brits identified as possibly being the masked killer known as “John”.

In June, The Sunday Times revealed a threat made by Bary on Twitter. “The lions are coming for you soon you filthy kuffs (infidels),” he wrote. “Beheadings in your own backyard soon.”

Bary, who went to Syria last year to fight in its bloody civil war, has a build, skin tone and ­accent all similar to those of “John,” according to The Telegraph.

Before becoming a jihadist, he was an aspiring rapper known as “L Jinny,” whose music was played on BBC Radio 1. Bary also appeared in music videos posted on YouTube for songs titled Overdose, Flying High and Dreamer.

But he was reportedly radicalised by followers of firebrand ­Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary and walked out of his family’s plush West London home last year, saying he was “leaving everything for the sake of Allah.”

Earlier this month, he was seen in a photo posted to Twitter wearing camouflage clothing and a black balaclava while holding a severed head with his left hand — the same hand “John” is seen using to draw a knife across Foley’s throat in his execution video.

Also under investigation are Abu Hussain Al-Britani, 20, a computer hacker from Birmingham, and Abu Abdullah al-Britani, in his 20s, from Portsmouth, the MailOnline reported.

Mail Online reported that al-Britani was jailed in 2012 for stealing personal information from former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Since joining ISIS’ brutal campaign in Syria al-Britani, real name Junaid Hussian, has worked to fund the ISIS war chest by mounting jihadist cyber attacks on British banks and celebrities.

Other possible identities for “John” include the brother of a British doctor once charged with kidnapping two Western war correspondents, and a former gang member who converted to Islam and travelled to Syria, Britain’s Telegraph newspaper reported.

A dozen American counterterrorism experts are expected to fly to the UK “within days” to help identify Foley’s killer, the Daily Mail reported.Read the full story here.