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France’s government spokesman has confirmed that a second man who appears in a beheading video released by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) at the weekend was a French citizen, from the eastern suburb of Paris.

“It seems that there is a second Frenchman,” Stephane Le Foll told BFM TV. “We’re checking his identity,” he said declining to confirm a name circulating in French media.

President Francois Hollande earlier confirmed a second Frenchman was spotted in the video, who the source said went by the name Abu Othman and originated from Val-de-Marne.

He was seen in a video released on November 16 by ISIL, showing the killing of 18 Syrian prisoners and a US aid worker Peter Kassig.

French prosecutors had already confirmed the identity of one man in the video, 22-year-old Maxime Hauchard from Normandy in northern France.

Hollande said it was not clear exactly what role the men played in the beheading. “The judicial system will have to establish this,” he told a news conference during a visit to the Australian capital, Canberra. – AP