CBS News: Identity Of 'Jihadi John' Confirmed By U.S. Intel Official
LONDON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Mohammed Emwazi has been identified as "Jihadi John," the British-accented masked militant seen in beheading videos released by ISIS, a U.S. intelligence official confirmed to CBS News.
The official told CBS News that Emwazi, of London, earned a degree from the University of Westminster.
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Emwazi's identification comes a day after federal authorities arrested two Brooklyn men and a third man in Florida for allegedly attempting to join ISIS and for allegedly plotting terror attacks in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Asim Qureshi of CAGE, a London-based group which works with Muslims in conflict with British intelligence services, said Thursday he saw strong similarities, but because of the hood worn by the militant, "I can't be 100 percent certain.''
"There was an extremely strong resemblance," Qureshi told the Washington Post. "This is making me feel fairly certain that this is the same person."
The Study of Radicalization and Political Violence at King's College London, which closely tracks fighters in Syria, also said it believed the identification was correct.
British counter-terrorism officials would not confirm the man's identity.
According to The Washington Post and the BBC, Emwazi was born in Kuwait, grew up in west London and studied computer programming at the University of Westminster. The university confirmed that a student of that name graduated in 2009.
"If these allegations are true, we are shocked and sickened by the news,'' the university said in a statement.
The news outlets said Emwazi had been known to Britain's intelligence services before he traveled to Syria in 2012.
CAGE said that in 2010, Emwazi complained that British intelligence services were preventing him from traveling to the country of his birth, Kuwait, where he planned to marry.
CAGE quoted an email Emwazi had sent saying, "I had a job waiting for me and marriage to get started. But now I feel like a prisoner, only not in a cage, in London.''
"The Mohammed that I knew was extremely kind, extremely gentle, extremely soft-spoken, was the most humble young person that I knew,'' Qureshi said.
He said he hadn't had contact with Emwazi since January 2012.
No one answered the door at the brick row house in west London where the Emwazi family is alleged to have lived. Neighbors in the surrounding area of public housing projects either declined comment or said they did not know the family.
In October, FBI Director James Comey told "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley about the effort to track him down.
"I want to see our country and our allies bring justice to him," Comey said. "Whether that means capturing him or killing him, I don't know at this point."
In September, Long Island Rep. Peter King said the U.S. needs to take stronger action against ISIS.
"ISIS is a ruthless, brutal jihadist organization," King told 1010 WINS. "It's a terrorist gang and the United States has to stop it."
On Capitol Hill on Thursday, the Director of National Intelligence told Congress about 3,400 western fighters have gone to Syria and Iraq, in addition to 180 Americans, CBS2's Dick Brennan reported.
"This is those who've attempted to go, didn't get there, those who got there and were killed, those who got there, who fought, and wnet to another country, and some number have come back," James Clapper said.
Authorities say Emwazi's family was well-off and he graduated college with a degree in computer programming before being radicalized.
Maki Haberfeld of John Jay College has studied how some immigrants get radicalized, but said it's not about economics.
"It had nothing to do about anything other than pure hatred and philosophy. Nothing to do with economic status. All employed in respectable positions, and well educated," Haberfeld said.
"Jihadi John'' appeared in a video released in August showing the slaying of American journalist James Foley. A man with similar stature and voice also featured in execution videos of American journalist Steven Sotloff, Britons David Haines and Alan Hemming and U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig.
ISIS also released video that showed sledgehammers being used to smash statues, some fating to the 7th century B.C.
ISIS said the relics are idols that must be removed.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art issued a statement on the destruction, calling it a 'tragic assault.'
"This mindless attack on great art, on history, and on human understanding constitutes a tragic assault on our universal commitment to use art to unite people."
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