LONDON — The widow of a man killed by the masked Islamic State militant previously known as “Jihadi John” said Friday she wanted him caught alive, insisting he does not deserve an “honorable death.”
Dragana Haines, widow of slain British aid worker David Haines, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that she did not want her husband’s murderer killed in action, which she described as a “honorable death.”
“I think he needs to be put to justice, but not in that way,” said Haines, whose husband was killed in September.
“People of his kind believe that death in combat is an honor, something special,” she told the Associated Press from her home in Croatia. “I think it would be better if he would end up in court.”
But Haines’ daughter, Bethany, meanwhile, told Britain’s ITV News: “I think all the families will feel closure and relief once there’s a bullet between his eyes.”
The militant English-speaking jihadist was identified Thursday by The Washington Post as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Briton from west London.
The family of American journalist Steven Sotloff, who was similarly murdered earlier that month, expressed hope that the killer would go to prison.
The family said it felt “relieved” and took “comfort” from the disclosure of Emwazi’s identity, according to the BBC.
“We want to sit in a courtroom, watch him sentenced and see him sent to a super-max prison where he will spend the rest of his life in isolation,” the BBC quoted a family spokesman as saying.
There has been no comment from the Islamic State’s various online channels regarding the disclosure of Emwazi’s identity.
“If these allegations are true, we are shocked and sickened by the news,” said a statement from the University of Westminster, where Emwazi studied computer programming, after the news broke Thursday. “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Britain’s counterterrorism chief said authorities would not disclose details of its investigations into “Jihadi John.”
[Read: Islamic State killer is identified as Londoner Mohammed Emwazi]
The Post report said Emwazi — who has appeared in Islamic State videos issuing proclamations and carrying out several beheadings — is believed to have traveled to Syria around 2012 and later joined the Islamic State.
The Post said counterterrorism officials in Britain detained Emwazi in 2010, fingerprinted him and searched his belongings.
Cmdr. Richard Walton, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, said no public details of the ongoing probe into Emwazi will be released.
[View: The atrocities of the Islamic State]
“We are not going to confirm the identity of anyone at this stage or give an update on the progress of this live counterterrorism investigation,” Walton said in a statement.
In Washington, a senior White House adviser, David Simas, said the disclosure underscores the need “to build on the work” of a 60-nation conference hosted by President Obama on combating violent extremism.
Simas, director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach, told CNN that the Islamic State’s extensive recruitment efforts pose a “new, evolving threat.”
The International Center for the Study of Radicalization, a leading authority on foreign recruitment methods by militant groups, described the Post’s reporting on Emwazi’s identity as “accurate and correct.”
Read: Emwazi filed a complaint with police. This is the response.]
“The fact that ‘Jihadi John’ has been unveiled in this manner demonstrates that whatever efforts are made, the ability to mask one’s identity is limited or in fact impossible, and their true identities will eventually be revealed,” said a statement from the center, which is based at King’s College in London.
“This demonstrates what we have long said about radicalization, that it is not something driven by poverty or social deprivation,” the center added. “Ideology clearly plays a big role in motivating some men to participate in jihadist causes.”
Earlier this month, the director of the U.S. National Counter Terrorism Center told a congressional panel that an estimated 20,000 foreigners from 90 countries — including about 3,400 from Western nations — have joined militant factions in Syria, including the Islamic State.
Worries about Islamic State recruitment are particularly acute in Europe, where authorities have increased surveillance for citizens seeking to reach Syria or returning home after contact with the militants.
Last month — just days after a series of terrorist attacks rocked Paris — police in Belgium and other countries conducted raids against suspected cells linked to Islamic State sympathizers.
In New York, three men — all born in Central Asia — were arrested on Wednesday on charges of plotting to join the Islamic State.
Brian Murphy in Washington and Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.
Griff Witte is The Post’s London bureau chief. He previously served as the paper’s deputy foreign editor and as the bureau chief in Kabul, Islamabad and Jerusalem.
Daniela Deane was a reporter in four countries in Europe and Asia and a foreign affairs writer in Washington before she joined the Post in 1999. She now writes about breaking foreign news from both London and Rome.
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