Mr. Emwazi was identified as the masked Islamic State fighter called “Jihadi John”, and his journey from computer student to a murderous spokesman for the Islamic State is only beginning to come clear. Mohammed Emwazi along with his parents moved to West London from his birthplace in Kuwait and he seems to have lived a normal life, studying hard and graduating in computer sciences from the University of Westminster in 2009. Mr. Emwazi was called “Jihadi John” by the foreign hostages of ISIS, a number of whom he apparently beheaded in widely circulated videos. He was first identified by The Washington Post website and his name was confirmed by a senior British security official.

Britain officially refused to confirm that he is indeed “Jihadi John” because of what is described as continuing operations. Mr. Emwazi was alleged to be the part of a group from West and North London, sometimes known as “the North London Boys,” with links to the Somalia-based terrorist group Al Shabab. Mr. Emwazi appears in 2011 court documents, as a member of a network of extremists who funneled funds, equipment and recruits “from the United Kingdom to Somalia to undertake terrorism-related activity.” How and when he was radicalized and whether the British intelligence services were at fault, either dealing with him too harshly or not identifying him as a serious threat soon enough, are already the subject of debate.

By Premji