The Islamic State executioner known as 'Jihadi John' was today named as Mohammed Emwazi, of Queen's Park, west London. Photo / AP
The Islamic State executioner known as 'Jihadi John' was today named as Mohammed Emwazi, of Queen's Park, west London. Photo / AP
The Islamic State executioner known as 'Jihadi John' was today named as a university graduate from London who was able to flee to Syria despite being on an MI5 terror watch list.
Mohammed Emwazi, of Queen's Park, west London, was allegedly spoken to three times in one year by police and security services in Tanzania, the Netherlands and Britain.
The 26-year-old, who studied computer programming at the University of Westminster, is said to have travelled to the Middle East three years ago and later joined ISIS.
Jihadi John has featured in the execution videos of British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines, U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, Japanese reporter Kenji Goto and Syrian soldiers.
His identity was confirmed this afternoon by two U.S. government sources. Whitehall sources told MailOnline that Emwazi had been known to security services for at least weeks, probably months, but not made public because the priority was trying to find him.
Arabic speaker Emwazi has one brother and two sisters, and first moved to Britain aged six.
The son of a minicab driver, he was reported to have occasionally prayed at a mosque in Greenwich, south-east London.
But after graduating from university, in May 2009 Emwazi flew to Tanzania with friends apparently on a safari - but was arrested by police upon landing in Dar es Salaam and sent back to Britain.
En route he stopped in Amsterdam, where he claimed to have been accused by an MI5 officer of trying to reach Somalia, home of the militant group Al Shabaab.
Emwazi claimed to have been harassed and intimidated by security services - and even complained to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
He alleged an agent from MI5 knew 'everything about me; where I lived, what I did, and the people I hanged around with' and claimed the organisation attempted to 'turn' him to work for them.
A picture began to emerge today of Emwazi's background, including the details that:
• He was the son of a mini-cab driver and moved to Britain aged six, having been born in Kuwait • He has three brothers and sisters and they all lived in a council flat in west London • MI5 apparently persistently tried to recruit him after he graduated from university • He claims counter-terrorism police arrested him in 2010 and put him on a terror watch list • This was to stop him leaving Britain but he still managed to flee the country for Syria in 2012
Asim Qureshi, research director from lobby group Cage - who had been in contact with Emwazi before he left for Syria - said he also believed the man was Jihadi John.
CAGE research director, Asim Qureshi talks during a press conference. Photo / AP
Mr Qureshi said: 'There was an extremely strong resemblance. This is making me feel fairly certain that this is the same person.'
Emwazi complained of harassment at the hands of MI5 agents for more than a year, similar to Michael Adebolajo, one of the two killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby in south-east London in 2013.
Mr Qureshi said: 'Like Michael Adebolajo, suffocating domestic policies aimed at turning a person into an informant but which prevent a person from fulfilling their basic life needs would have left a lasting impression on Emwazi.
'He desperately wanted to use the system to change his situation, but the system ultimately rejected him.'
The Washington Post reported Emwazi - who has also been known as Muhammad ibn Muazzam - then moved to his native Kuwait and worked in IT, but he was detained by counter-terrorism police in June 2010 upon a return trip to London.
They allegedly fingerprinted him and searched his belongings, and he was not allowed to fly back to Kuwait. Emwazi was put on a terror watch list and banned from leaving the UK.
The FBI said last September that authorities had been trying to identify Jihadi John using various investigative techniques including voice analysis and interviews with former hostages.
Scotland Yard would not confirm the name, and Downing Street declined to comment on the report. Police attended Emwazi's home in Queen's Park earlier today.
One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, described the family as 'strange people - not like other people around here'.
Another told the London Evening Standard: 'They do not mix with us or socialise, or talk to us. Ever since they moved in a while ago they do not say anything to us.'
And a further local told the Daily Telegraph: 'It's a big shock, for me at least I'm a neighbour in this estate it's a big shock for us.'
A spokesman for the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College London said: 'We believe that the identity and name published by the Washington Post and now in the public realm to be accurate and correct.
'Jihadi John' is not special, in the sense that all the foreign fighters have tried to hide their identity by using pseudonyms or literally by masking themselves.
'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.'
And a University of Westminster spokesman said: 'A Mohammed Emwazi left the University six years ago. If these allegations are true, we are shocked and sickened by the news. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.
'We have students from 150 countries and their safety is of paramount concern. With other universities in London, we are working to implement the Government's Prevent strategy to tackle extremism.'
Shiraz Maher, an expert from the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College London, told MailOnline: 'The fact he seems to be known to security and involved in a radical community fits the profile of what we're looking for in terms of the person who would be trusted by ISIS to be such a prominent figure.
'I think the fact he went out in 2012, which means he was a relatively early adopter, makes him someone who would've been there for a while and who would be trusted by the group.'
In September, it was revealed Jihadi John was known to MI5 before he travelled to Syria to join ISIS. It emerged security officials had identified him but his name and background were being kept secret to avoid jeopardising any hostage rescue missions.
Police and security agents said they also wanted to gather more information before raiding the homes of the fanatic's family and friends.
Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary - a London rapper initially identified as a suspect - was ruled out after analysis of his voice as well as his height and mannerisms.
The 23-year-old came to prominence last year after he posted a photograph of himself on Twitter holding up a severed head.
Other Britons from Portsmouth, Birmingham and Cardiff have been linked to John, who is said to have overseen the torture of hostages and to have led negotiations for French and Italian captives freed in return for ransoms.
It is claimed he was making street collections for genuine Arab charities based in London at the time he came to MI5's attention.
David Cameron has repeatedly called for the infamous terrorist to be punished for his crimes.
In an interview with MailOnline last month, the Prime Minister revealed how he personally watched videos of the brutal beheadings of British hostages carried out by Jihadi John.
'These videos are absolutely horrific and depraved,' the Prime Minister said. 'And obviously I take the time to see what they are doing so I understand what families have been going through.'
Speaking in November, Mr Cameron said: 'You should be in no doubt that I want Jihadi John to face justice for the appalling acts that have been carried out in Syria.'
