The man who appeared in several ISIS videos lecturing and beheading Western victims in cold blood has been identified as Mohammed Emwazi.
The Washington Post reported:
The world knows him as “Jihadi John,” the masked man with a British accent who has beheaded several hostages held by the Islamic State and who taunts audiences in videos circulated widely online.
But his real name, according to friends and others familiar with his case, is Mohammed Emwazi, a Briton from a well-to-do family who grew up in West London and graduated from college with a degree in computer programming. He is believed to have traveled to Syria around 2012 and to have later joined the Islamic State, the group whose barbarity he has come to symbolize.
“I have no doubt that Mohammed is Jihadi John,” said one of Emwazi’s close friends who identified him in an interview with The Washington Post. “He was like a brother to me. . . . I am sure it is him.”
Jihadi John Emwazi appeared in several ISIS videos beheading Western victims.
(Clockwise from left) Islamic State victims James Foley, Abdul-Rahman (Peter) Kassig, Alan Henning, Kenji Goto and Steven Sotloff (BBC)
Im October The Daily Mail reported that drones had tracked down Jihadi John in Raqqa, Syria. But British defense forces believe a strike on his camp would end in a bloody failure.
Of course, Jihadi John’s family is described as a “normal Muslim family.”
Family of man named as 'Jihadi John' described by neighbours as a 'normal Muslim family' http://t.co/i0SHEEpPfh pic.twitter.com/AcQqeOPzlJ
— The Independent (@Independent) February 26, 2015