So, were these 'beautiful, kind-hearted young men' corrupted by MI5 as well?

The shocking pictures emerged just hours after campaign group CAGE defended Jihadi John, today unmasked as west London student Mohammed Emwazi, as 'beautiful' and a man who 'wouldn't hurt a fly'.

The scarcely believable comments about Emwazi were made by CAGE leader Asim Qureshi at a press conference in which he blamed MI5 for radicalising the University of Westminster graduate.

In the guise of Jihadi John, Emwazi has apparently been responsible for the beheadings of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines and taxi driver Alan Henning, and American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter.

The gruesome murders were filmed, expertly edited and distributed in the name of Islamic State.

Jihadi John's trademark black hood can be seen covering the faces of the four executioners in the latest pictures, thought to have been taken in Salahuddin province in Iraq.

Each man was accused of being part of a spy ring and were executed under the crime of spying for the Baghdad government.

Clad in the familiar orange jumpsuits the victims, named as Sabi Khalif Mohammad al-Taghi, Mohammad Mahdi Salah al-Jamili, Abdullah Mahmoud Abdullah al-Khamili and Salwan Saidy Suleiman al-Jabouri, are pictured being marched into a clearing under the dark gaze of their killers.

Amid bright sunlight filtered through surrounding trees, they are photographed standing separately while their three alleged accomplices kneel with their heads down in the background.

Some of their faces show defiance and others fear, before they are lined up on their knees with their black-clad killers standing behind. 

In gut-wrenching images the four are then seen slumped on the ground, apparently having been shot in cold blood, as their ISIS murderers raise hand guns in the air. 

Blood pools around the heads of the dead men, which are shown in close-up in images too horrific to reproduce. 

Earlier today Qureshi was branded an ISIS sympathiser as he appeared to launch a defence of Emwazi and his barbaric crimes.

He described Emwazi as 'the most humble young person that I knew', adding: 'He was such a beautiful young man, really. 

'It's hard to imagine the trajectory, but it is not a trajectory that's unfamiliar with us.

'When are we going to finally learn that when we treat people as if they're outsiders, they are going to feel like outsiders and they will look for belonging elsewhere.'

(dailymail.co.uk)