Tag: Jihadi John

The new issue of Dabiq Magazine (#13) released today contains tributes to several fallen ISIS members, including "Jihadi John." I'm not linking to Dabiq so here's a link to a news article about it. But I am interested in some details as to his background the eulogy clears up so I will quote it.

First, the article refers to him as "Abū Muhārib al-Muhājir" rather than Mohammed Emwazi. In the bio portion, it says his early life was spent in the "northeast of the Arabian Peninsula" but he moved to London with his family at a young age. His mother was originally from Yemen. [More....]

An unnamed source in the Joint Terrorism Task Force says Mohamed Emwazi, aka "Jihadi John" is now in Libya.

[A] source with America’s Joint Terrorism Taskforce, which along with the CIA and U.S special forces DEVGRU is hunting Emwazi, believes he has slipped over the border.

“We think it is a tactical move by ISIS to keep Emwazi out of the limelight. “His unmasking by the Press took away the mystery surrounding his ‘bogey man’ persona and though we have targeted him with conventional missiles we have had no confirmation of a successful strike.

I wonder if he's hanging out with the English speaking ISIS beheader in Wilayat Tarabulus (Tripoli) who appears in the video of the killing of Egyptian Coptic Christians on a beach near Sirte.

Salem al-Hashash, the Kuwaiti lawyer for Jassem Emwazi, who is the father of Mohammed Emwazi, aka "Jihadi John" held a short press conference today announcing he is withdrawing from Emwazi's case "for personal reasons." He also said he filed several slander lawsuits today. He also said:

Jassem Emwazi is a "British national who has no relation with Kuwait" except that he visits the Gulf state to see his mother.

[More...]

The more I look at photos of Mohammed Emwazi from his childhood and in Kuwait, the less he seems to resemble the black clad executioner in the beheading videos. Doesn't anyone have a photo of Emwazi before Syria that shows his very sloped shoulders? Aside from one eyelid being larger than the other, his shoulders are his most prominent feature. His stance is also somewhat unique, (He seems bow-legged in some videos.)

There are a lot of ISIS fighters who look like him when masked. Some fighter photos the media identifies as being Emwazi/Jihadi John are not him. There's this photo which is not Jihadi John, but a Dutch fighter named Soufiane Zerguit, who went by the name A Fighting Journalist (@fightingjmedia, account now closed.). It seems he posted the selfie as a joke, pretending to be Jihadi John, and the media fell for it. Soufiane was reported killed in Kobane in January. (Dutch prosecutors say they have no proof of his death and refuse to dismiss a terror case against him, wanting to prosecute him in absentia.) [More...]

The British media and the U.S. media have something in common: When a spontaneous event occurs and they get caught flat-footed, in a race to compete with other news organizations, they throw traditional vetting rules out the window and report whatever they are told, reliable or not. They rummage through every type of record, not only of the individual, but their families and associates, every scrap of online information, seek out people who have had not contact with the named individual for 10 or more years and report their information as fact, ignoring even the most basic inconsistencies. In essence, they decide the person is a monster, and then report anything, true or not, that points in that direction. [More...]

I see many news reports saying Mohammed Emwazi, aka "Jihadi John" went to Syria in 2012. CAGE says it was 2013.

In early 2013, Mohammed's father suggested that he should think about changing his name by deed poll, so that perhaps the name that he had been known under thus far, might not cause him further problems as he sought to travel. He complied with his father's suggestion, and before long officially became known as Mohammed al-Ayan.

With one final roll of the dice, Mohammed bought a ticket for Kuwait, and attempted to travel there. Once again, he was frustrated as he was barred from travel, and once again questioned by the security agencies.

[More....]

The black-clad executioner in ISIS beheading videos has been identified by the media as Mohammed Emwazi. He grew up in London, graduated college, and according to CAGE, which corresponded with him, was harassed by British intelligence and prevented from leaving several times. He is originally from Kuwait. The BBC has more. [More...]

The black clad executioner known only as "Jihadi John" is back. Today ISIS released a video with a Message to Japan. The video is in English. Jihadi John says as a result of Japan pledging $200 million in non-military aid to assist in the fight against ISIS, it is demanding a ransom of $200 million, one for each of the two Japanese hostages.

One of the hostages, Haruna Yukawa, was shown being interrogated in a video last August. The second, Kenji Goto, is a journalist.

At the end of the video, Jihadi John addresses the Japanese people. He tells them they have 72 hours to convince their government to pay. "Otherwise, this knife will become your nightmare." [More...]