The ruthless Islamic State militant known as Jihadi John, who beheaded the Salford taxi driver Alan Henning, has been named.
The killer, believed to be from west London but originally born in Kuwait, has been named as 27-year-old Mohammed Emwazi.
He comes from a middle-class family and occasionally prayed at a mosque in Greenwich, south-east London.
It is believed his identity was not revealed earlier by UK security services to avoid endangering any hostage rescue missions.
A close friend of Emwazi told the Washington Post: “I have no doubt that Mohammed is Jihadi John. He was like a brother to me… I am sure it is him.”
Emwazi’s close friend also said that the militant was desperate to leave the country while he was living in London because he felt like he was ‘in a cage’.
Jihadi John is believed to have featured in number of western hostage executions such as taxi driver Alan Henning, aid worker David Haines, American journalist James Foley and Steven Sotloff, Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and 22 Syrian soldiers.
He appeared in each execution video wearing the same black robe covering his body and a balaclava covering his face leaving only his eyes visible.
Speaking to MM shortly before Mr Henning’s murder, Manchester-based Muslim broadcaster Mohammed Shafiq said: “These evil terrorists do not represent Muslims or Islamic teaching, their barbarism is an affront to our faith, indeed the majority of victims of ISIS are fellow Muslims.
“We will not stop exposing these evil people and stand ready to help the British government in bringing the culprits to justice.”
Briton Emwazi previously studied computer programming at the University of Westminster and travelled to Syria in 2012 after graduating, where he joined the Islamic State.
Image courtesy of BBC via YouTube, with thanks.
