'Jihadi John' killer from Islamic State
beheading videos named by media
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[February 26, 2015]
LONDON (Reuters) - The "Jihadi John"
killer who has featured in several Islamic State beheading videos is
Mohammed Emwazi, a Briton from a middle class family who grew up in
London and graduated from college with a degree in computer programming,
the Washington Post newspaper said.
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In videos released by Islamic State (IS), the masked, black-clad
militant brandishing a knife and speaking with an English accent
appears to have carried out the beheadings of hostages including
Americans and Britons.
The Washington Post said Emwazi was believed to have traveled to
Syria around 2012 and to have later joined IS.
"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," the Post said.
In each beheading video, he is dressed entirely in black, a
balaclava covering all but his eyes and the ridge of his nose. He
wears a holster under his left arm.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Feb/26/images/ads/current/Hallies_sda_010615.png) Hostages gave him the name John as he and other Britons had been
nicknamed the Beatles, another was dubbed George.
The paper said he had been born in Kuwait, was raised in a
middle-class neighborhood in London and occasionally prayed at a
mosque in Greenwich, southeast London.
Police declined to comment on the reports.
"We are not going to confirm the identity of anyone at this stage or
give an update on the progress of this live counter- terrorism
investigation," said Commander Richard Walton of the Metropolitan
Police's Counter Terrorism Command in a statement.
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The Post quoted friends of Emwazi, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, as saying they thought he had started to become
radicalized after a planned safari in Tanzania following his
graduation from the University of Westminster in London.
They said Emwazi and two friends — a German convert to Islam named
Omar and another man, Abu Talib — never made it to the safari. On
landing in Dar es Salaam, in May 2009, they were detained by police
and held overnight before eventually being deported, they said.
No comment was immediately available from the University of
Westminster.
The Post said counter terrorism officials in Britain detained Emwazi
in 2010, fingerprinting him and searching his belongings.
(Reporting by Stephen Addison; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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