Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State extremist better known by his alias “Jihadi John,” may have escaped to Libya after his identity was exposed to the world earlier this year, according to unconfirmed reports in the British press.
Emzawi appeared in several grisly beheading videos, including that of American-Jewish journalist Steven Sotloff and James Foley. He has not appeared in IS footage since the January beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto.
Sky News releases first photo of ‘Jihadi John,’ the Islamic State’s infamous British executioner, named by US and UK media as Mohammed Emwazi, February 27, 2015. (screen capture: Sky News)
According to “US spies” quoted in The Express, the “fear factor” surrounding the terrorist was lost once he was found to be “a baseball hat-wearing West London street gang member.”
“We think it is a tactical move by ISIS to keep Emwazi out of the limelight. His unmasking by the press took away the mystery surrounding his ‘bogey man’ persona and though we have targeted him with conventional missiles we have had no confirmation of a successful strike,” the intelligence sources tell the paper.
“We have picked up communication intercepts to suggest Emwazi has been in Libya and remained there over a number of days,” the sources say, according to the report.
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