ISIS JIHADI jailed over the gruesome beheading of two Scandinavian women hikers in Morocco that shocked the world hangs himself in prison (WARNING: Graphic Images)

The body of convicted terrorist Abderrahim Khayali, 36, was discovered by guards at the prison in Oujda, a city in northeast Morocco, on Tuesday morning. Khayali was among four convicted ISIS militants jailed and sentenced to death in 2019 over the horrific murders of Norwegian Maren Ueland, 28, and 24-year-old Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, from Denmark, in Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains.

Daily Mail The group’s suspected ringleader Abdessamad Ejjoud and two others – Younes Ouaziyad and Rachid Afatti – had filmed themselves beheading the two hikers inside their tent in December 2018 before posting the horrific footage online in a case that shocked the world.

Khayali, who had tried to help the militants flee, had also appeared alongside the three killers in a video in which all four pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in front of a black and white ISIS flag. He was originally sentenced to life in prison but the sentence was changed to execution after he appealed.

Ejjoud, Ouaziyad and Afatti were also sentenced to death by firing squad for beheading the two hikers in 2019. The court also handed jail terms to 19 people convicted as accomplices.

During their trial, the four ISIS fanatics had said, ‘May God forgive us’ while one added: ‘There is no God but Allah’ when the judge asked them for their final statements before giving his verdict. The sentencing marked the first time since 1993 that Morocco has handed out the death penalty.

During the trial of the ISIS militants, Helle Petersen, the mother of Danish victim Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, told the court in a letter: ‘The most just thing would be to give these beasts the death penalty they deserve.’ ‘I cry all the time when I think of her. My daughter and her (friend) Maren had dreams and were taken in the most terrible way,’ the letter said.

The three killers of the women were ‘bloodthirsty monsters’, the prosecution said during the trial, pointing out that an autopsy report had found 23 injuries on Jespersen’s decapitated body and seven on that of Ueland.

Ejjoud, an underground imam, had confessed at a previous hearing to beheading one of the women and Younes Ouaziyad, a 27-year-old carpenter, the other, while Rachid Afatti, 33, had videoed the murders on his mobile phone. Khayali, a plumber, had accompanied the three killers but left the scene before the murders. 

During the trial, Jespersen’s lawyers accused authorities of having failed to monitor the activities of some of the suspects before the murders. The brutal killings could have been spared had authorities heeded information on the behaviour of street vendor Ejjoud, they said.

The alleged ringleader, who had been convicted for trying to join ISIS in Syria, was released early from prison in 2015 and went on to meet former inmates and other individuals without checks by authorities, attorney Khaled El Fataoui said. The lawyer claimed police had been informed of the activities of the group of men but failed to act.

Lawyer Houssine Raji added the four main ISIS fanatics met in Koranic schools run by cleric Mohamed al-Maghraoui, which had been shut in 2010 under a court decision but ordered reopened in 2012 by the justice minister.

Investigators said the ‘cell’ was inspired by IS ideology, but Morocco’s anti-terror chief insisted the accused had no contact with the jihadist group in conflict zones. 

This is the actual beheading of one of the girls.

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