A man with a British accent seen in ISIS videos showing the beheadings of Western hostages was identified Thursday as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Londoner, the Reuters news agency reported, citing The Washington Post and the BBC.
The identity of the man, who's become widely known as "Jihadi John," was confirmed to the Post by one of Emwazi's close friends, the newspaper reported.
A UK human rights group which had contact with Emwazi before he went to Syria also told the newspaper it believes him to be Jihadi John.
"We have previously asked media outlets not to speculate about the details of our investigation on the basis that life is at risk," said Commander Richard Walton, of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.
"We are not going to confirm the identity of anyone at this stage or give an update on the progress of this live counter terrorism investigation."
The masked, black-clad figure believed to be Jihadi John has become a familiar sight in ISIS' gruesome beheading videos.
He appears to be the ISIS militant shown in a video last month demanding a $200 million ransom to spare the lives of two Japanese citizens. That man looks and sounds similar to one who has appeared in at least five previous hostage videos.
U.S. and British officials have previously said they believe they know who Jihadi John is, but they haven't disclosed the information publicly.
That could be because Western intelligence agencies believe they have more to gain from keeping quiet, Aki Peritz, a former CIA officer.
"They can put pressure on his family, put pressure on his friends," he told CNN. "Maybe they have a line to him. Maybe they know who his cousins are who are going to Syria who can identify him. However, if you publicly tell everybody who he is, his real identity, then maybe he'll go to ground and he'll disappear."
Source: CNN
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