‘Jihadi John’ Identity Revealed, Former Senior Intelligence Official Confirms
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Obtained by ABC News(NEW YORK) — The man known as “Jihadi John,” a British-accented man who appeared in all black in several ISIS videos in which he appears to behead Westerners, has been identified as Mohammed Emwazi, a former senior U.S. intelligence official confirmed to ABC News.
The man’s identity had previously been known to American and British officials, but had not been revealed publicly. The BBC first reported his identity.
British authorities have declined to comment on the man’s identification. Commander Richard Walton of the London Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) told BBC, “We have previously asked media outlets not to speculate about the details of our investigation on the basis that life is at risk.”
“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,” he said.
The Washington Post quotes a friend of Emwazi, who said that he had “no doubt that Mohammed is Jihadi John.”
The Post described Emwazi as being from a “well-to-do” family in London, who graduated college with a computer programming degree.
A spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said in a statement that the NSC was “not able to confirm or deny the reports.” The spokesperson referred additional questions to the U.K.
The University of Westminster also released a statement through a spokesperson Thursday morning saying that “a Mohammed Emwazi left the University six years ago.” The statement said that “if these allegations are true, we are shocked and sickened by the news.”
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