The masked “Jihadi John” killer who fronted ISIS beheading videos has been identified as Mohammed Emwazi, a British computer programming graduate from a well-to-do London family who was known to the security services.
The black-clad militant brandishing a knife and speaking with an English accent was shown in videos released by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) apparently decapitating hostages.
The militant, in his mid-20s, used the videos to threaten the West, admonish its Arab allies and taunt U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron before petrified hostages cowering in orange jump suits.
Emwazi’s name was first disclosed by the Washington Post. Two U.S. government sources who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to Reuters that investigators believed Jihadi John was Emwazi.
Dressed entirely in black, a balaclava covering all but his eyes and the bridge of his nose and a holster under his left arm, Jihadi John became a menacing symbol of ISIS brutality and one of the world’s most wanted men.
Jihadi John fronted gruesome ISIS videos that showed either the killing or bodies of victims including U.S. citizens James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig, Britons David Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese Kenji Goto and over 20 Syrian soldiers.
He was unmasked publicly for the first time on Friday by British media which published a photograph showing Emwazi as a schoolboy.
The Daily Mail newspaper published a picture showing Emwazi smiling and sitting cross-legged on the grass at the front of the photograph from the St Mary Magdalene Church of England primary school in Maida Vale, West London.
((Sourced from CBC))
