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Jihadi John: Voice of the militant named as Mohammed Emwazi shown in beheadings of Western hostages

Jihadi John became the subject of an international manhunt

Heather Saul
Thursday 26 February 2015 16:57 GMT
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Mohammed Emwazi has been identified in reports as Jihadi John, the Isis militant suspected of appearing in the brutal beheading videos of Western hostages.

Emwazi was born in Kuwait and arrived in the UK at the age of six. He went on to graduate from the University of Westminster with a degree in computer programming.

In 2012, he fled the UK and joined Isis in their Syrian self-declared ‘caliphate’.

Jihadi John became the subject of an international manhunt when he appeared wielding a knife in a chilling video threatening James Foley.

His voice was scrutinised by intelligence agencies, experts and analysts around the world when it became clear that he spoke with a London accent.

Listen: The voice of Jihadi John

Jihadi John directed threats at governments in the UK and US over coalition-led airstrikes and demanded a $200 million ransom to save the lives of two Japanese hostages.

All of those captured in the videos were later killed.

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