A US strike on Syria that targeted British militant
“Jihadi John” was “an act of self defence”,
Britain‘s Prime Minister David Cameron said
Friday while acknowledging his death was “not
yet certain”.
Cameron said the operation against
Mohammed Emwazi, who appears in a string of
graphic videos showing the execution of
Western hostages, was a combined British-US
effort.
“We cannot yet be certain if the strike was
successful,” Cameron said in a statement
delivered outside his Downing Street office.
If it was confirmed, it would be “a strike at the
heart of Isil,” he said, using an alternative term
for the Islamic State militant (IS) group.
But analysts said the impact of his death would
likely be symbolic rather than tactical for the
jihadist group which controls swathes of Iraq
and Syria and is known for perpetrating
widespread atrocities.
The Pentagon said Thursday’s air strike hit
Raqa, the group‘s de facto capital in war-torn
Syria.
“Emwazi, a British citizen, participated in the
videos showing the murders of US journalists
Steven Sotloff and James Foley, US aid worker
Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aid workers David
Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese
journalistKenji Goto, and a number of other
hostages,” the Pentagon said.
CNN and the Washington Post, citing officials,
said Emwazi was targeted by a drone. He was
last seen in the video showing Goto’s execution
in January.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a
Britain-based monitoring group, said four
people were killed in a strike in Raqa late on
Thursday.
“The car was hit in the centre of town, near the
municipality building,” Observatory chief Rami
Abdel Rahman said, quoting sources who said
one of the victims was a “senior British member
of the group”.
– Executioner with an accent –
Emwazi, a London computer programmer, was
born in Kuwait to a stateless family of Iraqi
origin. His parents moved to Britain in 1993
after their hopes of obtaining Kuwaiti
citizenship were quashed.
Dubbed “Jihadi John” by British and US media,
he first appeared in a video in August 2014
showing the beheading of Foley, a 40-year-old
American freelance journalist who was
captured in Syria in November 2012.
Foley is seen kneeling on the ground, dressed in
an orange outfit resembling those worn by
prisoners held at the US naval base at
Guantanamo Bay.
Emwazi is dressed entirely in black and wears a
mask.
Foley’s mother Diane told ABC News that if
Emwazi’s death were confirmed, it would be
“small solace” to his family.
“This huge effort to go after this deranged man
filled with hate when they can’t make half that
effort to save the hostages while these young
Americans were still alive,” Diane Foley told
ABC.
Two weeks later, Foley’s fellow US hostage
Steven Sotloff was killed in the same manner,
again on camera and by the same executioner
with a British accent.
Sotloff’s mother, Shirley, told NBC News that
she had not been informed about Thursday’s
strike and even if it were confirmed, “it doesn’t
bring my son back”.
“I don’t think there will ever be closure,” she
added.
Bethany Haines, whose father was killed, told
ITV News: “After seeing the news that ‘Jihadi
John’ was killed I felt an instant sense of relief”.
But she added: “As much as I wanted him dead,
I also wanted answers as to why he did it, why
my dad, how did it make a difference.”
Writing on Twitter, Alan Henning‘s nephew,
Stuart, said: “Mixed feelings today wanted the
coward behind the mask to suffer the way Alan
and his friends did but also glad it’s been
destroyed.”
“Jihadi John” was “an act of self defence”,
Britain‘s Prime Minister David Cameron said
Friday while acknowledging his death was “not
yet certain”.
Cameron said the operation against
Mohammed Emwazi, who appears in a string of
graphic videos showing the execution of
Western hostages, was a combined British-US
effort.
“We cannot yet be certain if the strike was
successful,” Cameron said in a statement
delivered outside his Downing Street office.
If it was confirmed, it would be “a strike at the
heart of Isil,” he said, using an alternative term
for the Islamic State militant (IS) group.
But analysts said the impact of his death would
likely be symbolic rather than tactical for the
jihadist group which controls swathes of Iraq
and Syria and is known for perpetrating
widespread atrocities.
The Pentagon said Thursday’s air strike hit
Raqa, the group‘s de facto capital in war-torn
Syria.
“Emwazi, a British citizen, participated in the
videos showing the murders of US journalists
Steven Sotloff and James Foley, US aid worker
Abdul-Rahman Kassig, British aid workers David
Haines and Alan Henning, Japanese
journalistKenji Goto, and a number of other
hostages,” the Pentagon said.
CNN and the Washington Post, citing officials,
said Emwazi was targeted by a drone. He was
last seen in the video showing Goto’s execution
in January.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a
Britain-based monitoring group, said four
people were killed in a strike in Raqa late on
Thursday.
“The car was hit in the centre of town, near the
municipality building,” Observatory chief Rami
Abdel Rahman said, quoting sources who said
one of the victims was a “senior British member
of the group”.
– Executioner with an accent –
Emwazi, a London computer programmer, was
born in Kuwait to a stateless family of Iraqi
origin. His parents moved to Britain in 1993
after their hopes of obtaining Kuwaiti
citizenship were quashed.
Dubbed “Jihadi John” by British and US media,
he first appeared in a video in August 2014
showing the beheading of Foley, a 40-year-old
American freelance journalist who was
captured in Syria in November 2012.
Foley is seen kneeling on the ground, dressed in
an orange outfit resembling those worn by
prisoners held at the US naval base at
Guantanamo Bay.
Emwazi is dressed entirely in black and wears a
mask.
Foley’s mother Diane told ABC News that if
Emwazi’s death were confirmed, it would be
“small solace” to his family.
“This huge effort to go after this deranged man
filled with hate when they can’t make half that
effort to save the hostages while these young
Americans were still alive,” Diane Foley told
ABC.
Two weeks later, Foley’s fellow US hostage
Steven Sotloff was killed in the same manner,
again on camera and by the same executioner
with a British accent.
Sotloff’s mother, Shirley, told NBC News that
she had not been informed about Thursday’s
strike and even if it were confirmed, “it doesn’t
bring my son back”.
“I don’t think there will ever be closure,” she
added.
Bethany Haines, whose father was killed, told
ITV News: “After seeing the news that ‘Jihadi
John’ was killed I felt an instant sense of relief”.
But she added: “As much as I wanted him dead,
I also wanted answers as to why he did it, why
my dad, how did it make a difference.”
Writing on Twitter, Alan Henning‘s nephew,
Stuart, said: “Mixed feelings today wanted the
coward behind the mask to suffer the way Alan
and his friends did but also glad it’s been
destroyed.”