Mother Recognized Son As Jihadi John

The Islamic State militant responsible for the beheading of hostages was recognised by his mother on one of his execution videos, reported the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday. According to the report, 47-year-old Ghaneya Emwazi recognized her son Mohammed Emwazi’s voice as that of the IS executioner but did not tell authorities.

Last week, authorities revealed the identity of the man behind the mask in IS’s brutal propaganda videos. Emwazi is allegedly a 26-year old Kuwait-born Londoner who became radicalized over time.

Emwazi’s parents are said to have confirmed his identity as that of the killer when they were questioned by Kuwaiti security services on Sunday.

“The mother recognised the voice and she screamed: ‘That is my son,’ while he was talking before beheading the first American hostage,” a source familiar with the Kuwaiti investigation said.

“When they played the video again, the father was sure it was his son.”

Other family members have reportedly condemned his actions and welcome his death.

Emwazi’s father Jassem told police: “When his mother watched the film about Daesh (IS) she saw the young man covering his face in the James Foley video. He threatened the USA. He said he would kill. She was shocked. She became frantic and started screaming “This is my son”.

“We were all watching the video. We were scared to watch the video. Then we carried on watching it and we saw that it was Mohammed. We are completely distraught. My son is religious and he hates the West. He feels they have abused him.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) launched a manhunt for Jihadi John in August 2014, after a video was uploaded online showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley.

Four more beheading videos appeared in the following the months, of US journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, British taxi driver Alan Henning, and American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter.

He is also believed to have featured in the recent videos threatening the lives of Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. The two were later killed by the IS.

In each of the videos, Jihadi John is seen dressed in a black robe with a black balaclava covering his face. Only his eyes are shown.