(KRON)– A man 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 man with a British accent, who’s become widely known as “Jihadi John,” was confirmed to the Post by one of Emwazi’s close friends.
A UK human rights group also told the Washington Post that it believes Emwazi is Jihadi John. The group had contact with Emwazi before he went to Syria.
London’s Metropolitan Police are declining to confirm the reported identity.
“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,” said Commander Richard Walton of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
“We have previously asked media outlets not to speculate about the details of our investigation on the basis that life is at risk.”
The reporting in the Washington Post and BBC suggests that Emwazi is from a middle-class family and grew up in London.
He reportedly graduated college with a degree in computer programming.
It’s believed that Emwazi traveled to Syria in 2012 and later joined ISIS there.
The person believed to be Jihadi John appears often in ISIS’ beheading videos.
He appears to be the militant shown in the video last month demanding $200 million to spare the lives of two Japanese journalists. That man looks and sounds similar to the person who has appeared in at least five other hostage videos.