Man in ISIS Videos Known as 'Jihadi John' Is Identified as British Citizen - New York Times

Photo

The Islamic State militant known in the news media as "Jihadi John" shown before the execution of the British aid worker David Cawthorne Haines. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

LONDON — The man in the black balaclava who seems to have beheaded several foreign hostages in Islamic State videos has been identified by British security services as Mohammed Emwazi, a British citizen from London.

Known in the news media as “Jihadi John,” he is said to have been born in Kuwait and traveled to Syria in 2012. His name was first published on Thursday on the website of The Washington Post.

The story was confirmed by a senior British security official, who said that the British government had identified Mr. Emwazi some time ago but had not disclosed his name for operational reasons.

Mr. Emwazi, 27, grew up in the West London neighborhood of Queen’s Park and graduated from the University of Westminster with a degree in computer programming.

He first showed up in Islamic State videos in August, when he appeared to behead the American journalist James Foley and deliver threats against the West. The actual execution was not included in the video.

Continue reading the main story

Related Coverage

• 
  
  
  
  

  Britain Appeals to Anti-Extremist Imams in Effort to Uproot Seeds of RadicalizationAUG. 24, 2014

  
  


• 
  
  
  
  

  Briton and Frenchman Tentatively Identified in Islamic State Execution VideoNOV. 17, 2014

  
  


• 
  
  
  
  

  Memo From Europe: Nations Ponder How to Handle European Fighters Returning From Jihad NOV. 23, 2014

  
  


• 
  
  
  
  

  Hostage’s Apparent Beheading by ISIS Stirs Outrage in JapanFEB. 1, 2015

  
  


• 
  
  
  
  

  ISIS Hostages Endured Torture and Dashed Hopes, Freed Cellmates SayOCT. 25, 2014

  
  

The same man was apparently seen in the videos of the beheadings of a second American journalist Steven J. Sotloff; the British aid worker David Cawthorne Haines; the British taxi driver Alan Henning; and the American aid worker Peter Kassig. Last month, he appeared in a video with Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto, both Japanese hostages, shortly before they were killed.

Scotland Yard refused to confirm the identification, and the prime minister’s office had no comment.

Graphic

A visual guide to the crisis in Iraq and Syria.

OPEN Graphic

Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1AaP7cZ