Assassination of Jihadi John was ‘symbolic’, not strategic
THE assassination of the terrorist known as Jihadhi John was a “symbolic”, not strategic goal, spy chiefs have admitted as they detailed the complex methods used to catch him.
Robert Hannigan, a former director of GCHQ, revealed that vein-recognition technology and voice analysis led security services to identify Mohammed Emwazi “within hours” of a video showing his masked face and, crucially, his hands emerging on social media.
“We had a race to find out who he was. His size, his hands, but, above all, his voice, made identifying him quite easy,” said Mr Hannigan.
The Isil killer, who was raised in London, was not deemed a “significant military target” and as such, his death was deemed a more symbolic victory.
“It would have been strange to see this as a massive breakthrough,” added Mr Hannigan. “The threat went on.”
Douglas Wise, who helped oversee the CIA’S Middle East operations, said: “He certainly wasn’t a glorious battlefield commander, but he was a powerful and credible adversary nonetheless. Why? He was from us. He was of us.”
The Channel 4 documentary details how security services compared the video released in August 2014, when US journalist James Foley was beheaded, with archive photographs and voice recordings of phone taps held by MI5 and Scotland Yard.
Emwazi’s weakness was his desire to keep in touch with his wife and child – believed to have been in Iraq at the time – helping intelligence officials track the Islamic State fighter.
Colonel Steve Warren, then Pentagon spokesman, said: “He was very careful about his actions. But you know what? They all slip up eventually.”
After intelligence about Emwazi’s movements was received one night in November 2015, a drone was dispatched to follow his car. After 45 minutes, Emwazi emerged from it.
“You can’t see his face, but we could sort of see how he moved,” said Col Warren, who was watching a live feed.
“The angle of his beard, these things we could see. Eventually we were convinced that this is Jihadi John. And so the floor commander at the time orders, ‘Take the shot’.”
Within 15 seconds, Emwazi was dead.
The Hunt For Jihadi John, is on Channel 4 at 9pm on May 20