Mohammed Emwazi (born Muhammad Jassim Abdulkarim Olayan al-Dhafiri; Arabic: محمد جاسم عبد الكريم عليان الظفيري;‎ 17 August 1988 – 12 November 2015) was a British militant of Kuwaiti origin seen in several videos produced by the Islamist extremist group Islamic State (IS) showing the beheadings of a number of captives in 2014 and 2015.

[15] The family, who were Bidoon of Iraqi origin,[15] lived in the Taima area of the town of Al Jahra, which was known as a "slumtown" where stateless people were ghettoized by the Kuwaiti government.

[20] They settled in inner west London, moving between several properties in Maida Vale,[18] including subsidised accommodation,[21] later living in St John's Wood and finally in Queen's Park.

[20] Emwazi was known to MI5 years prior to his sightings in IS execution videos, having initially been suspected of having links to Al-Shabaab, and was repeatedly prevented from travelling back to Kuwait.

[25] The case prompted former British shadow home secretary David Davis to criticise the approach of UK intelligence services, noting "the numbers who appear to have 'slipped through the net'".

[29] The following are reported victims of Jihadi John: In a video uploaded to YouTube on 19 August 2014, Foley read a prepared statement criticising the United States, the recent airstrikes in Iraq, and his brother who serves in the US Air Force.

[30] Emwazi, wearing a mask, also read a prepared statement in which he criticised the US and President Barack Obama and made demands to cease the 2014 American-led intervention in Iraq.

[40] There has been speculation that, faced with the prospect of being beheaded, he may have resisted and been shot dead: a senior surgeon performed a detailed examination of the video and saw possible evidence of a gunshot wound.

[41][42] The video that ended with a shot of Kassig's severed head showed the beheadings of a number of Syrian soldiers in gruesome detail, by a group led by a masked Emwazi.

[50] Officially the FBI and US National Security Council confirmed that the James Foley video, which ended with footage of a beheaded corpse, was genuine.

[30] Jeff Smith, associate director of the CU Denver National Center for Media Forensics in the US, said "What's most interesting is that the actual beheading that takes place in the videos, both of them are staged.

[58][59][60] In his videos, "Jihadi John" concealed his identity by covering himself from head to toe in black, except for tan desert boots, with a mask that left only his eyes visible.

[30] On 24 August 2014, the British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Peter Westmacott, said that Britain was very close to identifying "Jihadi John" using sophisticated voice recognition technology,[63] but when pressed, refused to disclose any other details.

[64] On 20 September 2014, the United States Senate approved a US$10 million reward for information that led to the capture of anyone involved in the murders of James Foley, Steven Sotloff and David Cawthorne Haines.

[67] On 25 September, FBI Director James Comey told reporters that they had identified the suspect, but did not give information regarding the man's identity or nationality.

"[68] In August 2014, The Sunday Times reported that Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary ("L Jinny"), 23, a hip-hop musician from West London, had "emerged as a key suspect" in the investigation.

[71][72] On 26 February 2015, The Washington Post identified the perpetrator as Mohammed Emwazi, a British man then in his mid-20s who was born in Kuwait and grew up in west London.

[1] The BBC stated that Emwazi is believed to be "an associate of a former UK control order suspect ... who travelled to Somalia in 2006 and is allegedly linked to a facilitation and funding network for Somali militant group al-Shabab.

According to the interviews, Emwazi and two friends, a German convert to Islam named Omar and another man, Abu Talib, never made the safari.

In an email four months later to Qureshi, Emwazi expressed sympathy for Aafia Siddiqui who had just been sentenced in US federal court for assault and attempted murder.

[79] United States President Barack Obama condemned the actions of "Jihadi John" and vowed punishment for all the militants responsible for the videotaped beheadings.

Admiral Alan West, a former UK Minister for Security and Counter-terrorism, said that he is a "dead man walking" who will be "hunted down" like Osama bin Laden.

"[89] On 8 March 2015, according to The Sunday Times, Emwazi apologised for "problems and trouble the revelation of his identity has caused" his family, but he expressed no remorse for his victims.

[98] In July 2017, German-based journalist Souad Mekhennet published I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad, which details the hunt to identify and kill Jihadi John, in part through her own investigations.

[100] In September 2017, The Telegraph released old video footage showing Mohammed Emwazi and other IS members relaxing unmasked and talking casually.