ISIL Makes Hostages Believe Executions Not Real, Rehearsals - Defector

The Islamic State jihadist group subjected foreign hostages to mock executions to assure them that their lives were not in danger when it came to recording a real murder, an ISIL defector said in an exclusive interview with Sky News Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The defector who called himself Saleh said that Mohammed Emwazi, dubbed Jihadi John, an ISIL member appearing in a number of videos showing beheading of captives, gave orders to kill foreign hostages after numerous rehearsals to make them look relaxed on camera.

“He would say to me 'say to them, no problem, only video, we don't kill you, we want from your government stop attacking Syria. We don't have any problem with you; you are only our visitors,” Saleh, who used to be a translator before being employed by ISIL, said.

The Islamists gave all the victims Arabic names before killing to convince them they were among friends and make them feel more safe, Saleh added.

For example, ISIL militants called hostage Kenji Goto Abu Saad, the ISIL defector said, adding that probably the name of the Japanese citizen appeared very hard to the Islamists.

"ISIS gave the hostages an idea; 'You should be Muslim and come with us'," Saleh said.

Saleh fled across the Turkish border to escape the extremists, Sky News reported.

ISIL is a Sunni militant group currently in control of large parts of Syria and Iraq. The group has proclaimed a caliphate on the territories it has captured.

A US-led international coalition, comprising over 60 countries, has been conducting airstrikes on IS targets in Syria and Iraq.

ISIL militants have posted a number of videos featuring executions of foreign citizens on social media, demanding the coalition halt the strikes.