Jihadi John identified
THE world knows him as “Jihad John”, the masked, knife-wielding militant in videos showing Western hostages being beheaded by the Islamic State group.
Yesterday he was identified as a London-raised university graduate known to British intelligence for more than five years.
The British-accented militant from the chilling videos is Mohammed Emwazi, in his mid-20s, born in Kuwait and raised in a modest, mixed-income area of west London.
He was nicknamed “Jihadi John” after Beatle John Lennon, due to his British accent.
British anti-terror officials wouldn’t confirm the man’s identity, citing a “live counterterrorism investigation”. But a well-placed Western official confirmed he was Emwazi.
One man who knew Emwazi portrayed him as compassionate, a description at odds with the cruelty attributed to him.
“The Mohammed that I knew was extremely kind, extremely gentle, extremely softspoken, was the most humble young person that I knew,” said Asim Qureshi, of CAGE, a London-based advocacy group that counsels Muslims in conflict with British intelligence.
Mr Qureshi noted similarities between the man in the IS beheading videos and Emwazi, who he first met in 2009.
But, “I can’t be 100 per cent certain”, he said. “The guy’s got a hood on his head.”
Asked whether it would be a help or would hurt to have the jihadi publicly identified, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said investigators over recent months “have found it to their advantage to not talk publicly about the details or progress of that investigation”.
The Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at King’s College London, which tracks fighters in Syria, said it believed the identification was correct.
“Jihadi John” appeared in a video released in August showing the slaying of US journalist James Foley.
A man with similar stature and voice also featured in videos of the killings of US journalist Steven Sotloff, Britons David Haines and Alan Hemming, and US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig.
The Washington Post and BBC said Emwazi studied computer programming at the University of Westminster.
“If these allegations are true, we are shocked and sickened by the news,” a university spokesman said.
Reports said Emwazi was known to British authorities before travelling to Syria in 2012, and Mr Qureshi said Emwazi accused British intelligence agents of harassing him.
The daughter of British aid worker Haines said identifying the masked man was “a good step”.
“But I think all the families will feel closure and relief once there’s a bullet between his eyes,” Bethany Haines said.