UK - Jihadi John identified as Mohammed Emwazi

[zwiebel]

The masked Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John", who has been pictured in the videos of the beheadings of Western hostages, has been named.

The BBC understands he is Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man in his mid-20s from west London, who was known to UK security services.

They chose not to disclose his name earlier for operational reasons.

Emwazi first appeared in a video last August, when he apparently killed the American journalist James Foley.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31637090

 

[zwiebel]

He's from a 'well-to-do' family in West London, UK, and has a degree in computer programming

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...dbab16-bc43-11e4-bdfa-b8e8f594e6ee_story.html

 

[SurfieTX]

For many British, the familiar London-accented voice in the killings made the videos particularly upsetting. And that, of course, is no accident. The slick IS media machine, which depicts its black-clad fighters like the heroes in an action movie, has realized that accent and language matter—and that someone who sounds like a friend, neighbor, or someone one went to school with will be more chilling to the British public than someone who can be categorized more easily as “the other.”

http://qz.com/351589/details-from-the-life-of-jihadi-john-are-mundane-and-also-horrifying/

 

[SurfieTX]

Neighbours today told The Independent the family were a "normal Muslim family". One local resident, who did not want to be named, said that they were "quiet".

Khosru Khan, 32, a worshipper at the local mosque, said: "It's a mystery to us who he is, a mystery to the whole world. It's shocking that he is local to here, but he’s never prayed in this mosque. We don’t know him.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...bours-as-a-normal-muslim-family-10072403.html

 

[Yoda]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...bours-as-a-normal-muslim-family-10072403.html

from same article
Khosru Khan, 32, a worshipper at the local mosque:

"Muslims are being demonised all the world over, so we expect to see it here. He seems to be the demonised bogeyman for political purposes."

:thud: Maybe I am not understanding. Does he think, like the man below, that this is all made up? Or does he think that ME is not the man and they are just using a Muslim man as the 'bogeyman'?

Speaking outside the home a local man, who did not want to be named, said: "I didn't know him. Everybody in Islam agrees that murder is wrong... But this generation is changing, the world is changing.
"People think that a lot of what's being said about Iraq and Syria about burning people and beheadings is questionable.
"Is it made up? Really we don't know this guy or if anything is true."

 

[Snick1946]

Is there some reason why we are not being shown any picture of this man's face? Could intelligence agencies have a reason for not wanting this out there? I just think there would have to be pics of him from his school days, etc. This whole thing is very strange.

 

[HoldOn]

I did see pictures of his face on the morning news, however, they appeared to be several years old from when he was a student.

 

[SurfieTX]

Is there some reason why we are not being shown any picture of this man's face? Could intelligence agencies have a reason for not wanting this out there? I just think there would have to be pics of him from his school days, etc. This whole thing is very strange.

Perhaps they are worried about vigilantes. I'm sure they want him captured alive.

 

[epiphany]

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/571346068409090048/photo/1

Showing him with a goatee beard and wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap, the image is revealed in student records from his time at the University of Westminster.

http://news.sky.com/story/1435642/first-photo-of-jihadi-john-as-adult-revealed?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

 

[Cubby]

What makes someone become like this? Murdering people in front of a camera. He was denied access to Kuwait (I'm very curious as to why.....but that's another story) so he kills?

I don't understand why they hide their face. It's cowardly. If he felt that strongly in his beliefs why hide behind a mask? I'm torn between anger and sadness. Anger at the actions and sad because I can't fathom what would draw someone to kill.

 

[Snick1946]

There are now a few pics of him out there, the most recent I saw was from about 2006. Nearly all the articles about this, including one in my local paper, are the standard photo of his masked and holding the knife. Doesn't it seem odd that news accounts of his unmasking show only him as masked? I'd say there HAS to have been some directive from authorities not to show his current appearance. If he is still in ISIS held territory why would they be worried about vigilantes?

 

[SurfieTX]

Terrified relatives of Mohammed Emwazi want to change their identities over fears of revenge at tacks, friends said yesterday.

The jihadi’s parents have gone into hiding and are ‘living in fear’ that they and their children could be targeted by those demanding revenge.

Friends spoke out to defend the family – said to be moderate Muslims who had never supported extremism – fled their home in affluent Maida Vale, West London, before he was revealed to be the terrorist killer Jihadi John, and have not been seen since.

His Kuwaiti parents and their five other children – who the Mail has decided not to name – plan to change their identities to escape his notoriety and believe they will have to start new lives, away from London.

A close friend said: ‘I spoke to his sister and she is devastated. They are having to move, to change their identities. They are going through a very hard time.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-innocent-family-ve-wrong.html#ixzz3T4DMw8Ru
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

[HoldOn]

The latest....

http://nypost.com/2015/03/03/my-son-is-a-dog-an-animal-a-terrorist-father-of-jihadi-john/

 

[PastTense]

Jihadi John's beard and the way he walked was the key to the missile strike that killed him, a new documentary has revealed. The merciless executioner was identified by a drone flying at night over the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, which beamed back infrared pictures to military chiefs in the US. Within 15 seconds a missile was launched which obliterated the fanatical Londoner as he spoke on the phone.

Jihadi John was killed by a drone strike after his walk gave him away | Daily Mail Online

A Channel 4 documentary being broadcast on Monday reveals for the first time details of how Jihadi John, whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi, was hunted down and killed with the help of state-of-the-art tracking and identification technology.

In the U.S. HBO will show the documentary called Unmasking Jihadi John: Anatomy of a Terrorist.

Anyone find the date HBO will show it?

 

[AliceInPain]

sbm

A Channel 4 documentary being broadcast on Monday reveals for the first time details of how Jihadi John, whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi, was hunted down and killed with the help of state-of-the-art tracking and identification technology.

I hope that's what it's about and not some "poor guy grew up on a council estate" thing.
Pure evil.

I'll look out for it, PastTense, I have HBO too.

 

[dotr]

Fears second member of ISIS Beatles gang may apply for UK jail move

Alexanda Kotey, known as Jihadi George, received a life sentence after he admitted eight charges relating to the abduction, torture and beheadings of IS hostages in Syria.

www.dailymail.co.uk

29 August 2025 lengthy article.
''The daughter whose father was tortured and starved before being publicly beheaded fears that a second member of The Beatles terror cell will apply to move to a UK jail.

David Haines was killed by the gang in Syria, with his daughter now worried that Alexanda Kotey will attempt to follow the lead of El Shafee Elsheik.

Elsheikh - known as Jihadi Ringo - is currently serving life in a high-security US jail after he was convicted in 2022 of hostage-taking and conspiring to murder. ''

He has applied to be switched from his Colorado prison to a UK jail under the International Prisoner Transfer Program, claiming he would like to be closer to family and friends, it was reported yesterday.

Now Bethany, 28, from Perthshire, fears Kotey, who is held at US supermax ADX Florence in Colorado alongside Elsheik, will also apply to be transferred to the UK.

Bethany, who chose to meet Kotey in 2022 as part of his plea deal, told the Sun: 'I've looked in his eyes. He's evil.

'My biggest fear is that he will apply for a transfer. He will attack the West in some way even from inside a UK prison.'

David Haines was captured and beheaded in 2014 after being held by a four-man terrorist group of Britons dubbed 'The Beatles'

''The gang videoed the killings of captives, of which one was aid worker David Haines - whose daughter Bethany has called Elsheikh's bid to move prisons an 'outrageous insult'.

Mr Haines, of Perth in Scotland, was abducted while working at a refugee camp in Syria in 2013. He was held hostage by Elsheikh, Kotey, Mohammed Emwazi and Aine Davis.

A horrific 2014 video showed Mr Haines kneeled next to knife-wielding Emwazi - dubbed Jihadi John - and eventually beheaded.''

''In her concerns the bereaved daughter said she was worried Elsheikh would receive cushy treatment in the UK, adding the 'sociopath and narcissist' in reality had 'no real interest' in returning to be closer to family.
She said the convicted terrorist was 'manipulating the system to receive better conditions in prison' and so he could 'cause further pain to the victims' families'.''

Elsheikh, 34, a former British citizen, was sentenced to life in US prison