'Jihadi John' raised in UK, studied computers, reports say

The world knows him as “Jihadi John,” the masked, knife-wielding militant in videos showing Western hostages being beheaded by the Islamic State group. A growing body of evidence suggests he is a London-raised university graduate, described by one man who knew him as kind, gentle and humble. The Washington Post and the BBC on Thursday identified the British-accented militant from the chilling videos as Mohammed Emwazi, a man in his mid-20s who was born in Kuwait and raised in a modest, mixed-income area of west London.

The Mohammed that I knew was extremely kind, extremely gentle, extremely soft-spoken, was the most humble young person that I knew.

Asim Qureshi of CAGE, a London-based advocacy group which works with Muslims in conflict with British intelligence services

British anti-terror officials wouldn’t confirm the man’s identity, citing a “live counterterrorism investigation.” National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said the U.S. couldn’t confirm or deny the identity, either. Asked whether it was helpful or hurtful to have the jihadi publicly identified, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that investigators over the last several months “have found it to their advantage to not talk publicly about the details or progress of that investigation.” He didn’t confirm the identity of the suspect.

World Jihadi John