In 2010, Emwazi reportedly attempted to move to Kuwait but was stopped from doing so by British counter-terrorism officials, according to activist group CAGE.

CAGE describes itself as an \"advocacy organisation\" that regularly works on behalf of Guantanamo Bay detainees and Muslims who have been detained for terrorism. Their employee, Asim Qureshi, spoke today about how he communicated with Emwazi repeatedly between 2010 and 2012, when he is believed to have gone to Syria.

Qureshi described Emwazi as a \"beautiful young man\" when they met in the summer of 2009 to discuss Emwazi’s complaints about being detained and harassed by British authorities as he traveled.

He said he cannot confirm that the man in the \"Jihadi John\" video is Emwazi because his face is covered, but added that the personality is very different from the one he knew in London. He described Emwazi as kind, gentle and soft spoken.

He said Emwazi told him he didn't \"want to live in a country where I’m treated as the enemy.\"

\"What happened to him after then? I can’t tell you. I don’t know myself,\" Qureshi said.

\"PHOTO:
Matt Dunham/AP Photo
PHOTO: CAGE Research Director Asim Qureshi talks during a press conference held by the CAGE human rights charity in London on Feb. 26, 2015.
>

\"Jihadi John\" gained international attention in August 2014 when he appeared to be the masked man who executed American journalist James Foley in a video that became the first in a disturbing string of similar executions.

He spoke English with a British accent in the video, hence his nickname, \"Jihadi John.\"

Though he always appeared covered, his voice and stature led experts to believe that he was also the figure pictured in at least six other videos showing the deaths of Steven Sotloff, David Haines, Alan Henning, Peter Kassig, Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yakuawa.

Neither British nor American government officials have publicly confirmed the masked man's identity, but both have expressed concerns about how this revelation could impact ongoing investigations.

White House @NSCPress \"not able to confirm or deny\" reports on Jihadi John's identification - http://t.co/fmw05yCY0T pic.twitter.com/LW16iOVl0X

— Brian Ross (@BrianRoss) February 26, 2015

A spokesperson for Prime Minister David Cameron said that he \"would be concerned about information being put into the public domain at any time that might jeopardize ongoing police or security investigations or the safety of British citizens.\"

President Obama declined to comment on \"Jihadi John\" while speaking to ABC affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle, but vowed again to bring those who harmed Americans to justice.

A spokesman for the family of Steven Sotloff, an American whose execution allegedly took place at the hands of Jihadi John, is now calling for Emwazi to be brought to justice in America.

“The Sotloff family was confident law enforcement would find him out and bring him to justice and they have full confidence the U.S. government will be able to do that,” the statement said. “The family would like to see him brought to a court in N.Y. or eastern Va. and watch him prosecuted for the beheading of their son and convicted to life in a super max facility. This is how justice is served in this country.”

Bethany Haines, the daughter of British hostage David Haines, who was purportedly killed in one of the ISIS videos, told Britain’s ITV that identifying “Jihadi John” was a good step but only the first.

\"I think all the families will feel closure and relief once there’s a bullet between his eyes,\" she told ITV.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/International/jihadi-john-alleged-terrorist-mohammed-emwazi/story?id=29242569","legacySlug":"/news/story/jihadi-john-alleged-terrorist-mohammed-emwazi-29242569","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"02:00","publishDate":"02-27-2015","updatedTime":"03:29","updatedDate":"02-27-2015","socialImage":{"alt":"The ISIS executioner widely known as ‘Jihadi John’ has now been identified by the BBC as a British man named Mohammed Emwazi, seen here in one of the execution videos released by ISIS.","credit":"Obtained by ABC","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/ht_steven_sotloff_wy_150226_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"2/27/2015 02:00:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":29242569,"headline":"AC","mediaAssetTitle":"keneally_jihadiprof_150226","description":"British terrorist has allegedly been unmasked. ","duration":"2:53","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/i/abcnews/2015/02/150226_wn_brianross_630_,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["132306053","132266872","132055565"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"April 23, 2026","headline":"Trump orders Navy to 'shoot and kill' any boat laying mines in Strait of Hormuz","section":"News","slug":"/video/132306053","id":"132306053","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Trump orders Navy to 'shoot and kill' any boat laying mines in Strait of Hormuz","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260423_gma_scott_ceasefire3_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Trump orders Navy to 'shoot and kill' any boat laying mines in Strait of Hormuz","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260423_gma_scott_ceasefire3_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260423_gma_scott_ceasefire3_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260423_gma_scott_ceasefire3_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260423_gma_scott_ceasefire3_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260423_gma_scott_ceasefire3_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260423_gma_scott_ceasefire3_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260423_gma_scott_ceasefire3_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260423_gma_scott_ceasefire3_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260423_gma_scott_ceasefire3_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"April 22, 2026","headline":"Fallout after Fed nominee grilled on Capitol Hill","section":"News","slug":"/video/132266872","id":"132266872","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fallout after Fed nominee grilled on Capitol Hill","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260422_gma_schulze_fed3_713_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fallout after Fed nominee grilled on Capitol Hill","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260422_gma_schulze_fed3_713_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260422_gma_schulze_fed3_713_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260422_gma_schulze_fed3_713_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260422_gma_schulze_fed3_713_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260422_gma_schulze_fed3_713_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260422_gma_schulze_fed3_713_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260422_gma_schulze_fed3_713_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260422_gma_schulze_fed3_713_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260422_gma_schulze_fed3_713_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"April 15, 2026","headline":"American influencer found dead in Tanzania","section":"News","slug":"/video/132055565","id":"132055565","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: American influencer found dead in Tanzania","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260415_gma_norwood_ashlee2_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: American influencer found dead in Tanzania","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260415_gma_norwood_ashlee2_732_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260415_gma_norwood_ashlee2_732_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260415_gma_norwood_ashlee2_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260415_gma_norwood_ashlee2_732_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260415_gma_norwood_ashlee2_732_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260415_gma_norwood_ashlee2_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260415_gma_norwood_ashlee2_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260415_gma_norwood_ashlee2_732_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260415_gma_norwood_ashlee2_732_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"AC","description":"British terrorist has allegedly been unmasked. ","duration":"2:53","uploadDate":"02-27-2015","publication":"02-27-2015","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/i/abcnews/2015/02/150226_wn_brianross_630_,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/i/abcnews/2015/02/150226_wn_brianross_630_,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/jihadi-john-alleged-terrorist-mohammed-emwazi-29242569"}},"playlist":[{"id":"132281378","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132283010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132273278","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132231169","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132206748","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132200241","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054443","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054798","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132033010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131912713","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131830583","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131834976","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554815","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131543053","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131432442","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131121474","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131247079","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131228784","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131178806","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"AC","pubTime":"21:00","pubDate":"02-26-2015","modTime":"22:29","modDate":"02-26-2015","taxonomyTags":"none","id":29242569,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"AC","mediaAssetTitle":"keneally_jihadiprof_150226","videoId":29242569,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/news/story/jihadi-john-alleged-terrorist-mohammed-emwazi-29242569"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/29242569","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/29242569","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};