Jihadi John identified as Westminster graduate
University of Westminster Students' Union postpone Islamic event over fears for security
Sources at the US Government have confirmed the identity of ‘Jihadi John’ to be Mohammed
Emwazi, a computing graduate of the University of Westminster. ‘Jihadi John’ is featured in videos and pictures showing the beheading of a number of Western hostages.
Following the announcement by the press of the identification, Westminster’s Students’ Union has postponed last night [Thursday]’s “Who is Mohammed?” event due to “increased sensitivity and security concerns”.
The Union had previously issued a statement supporting the running of the event despite criticisms from students.
Mr Emwazi, from West London, completed studies in computer programming at the University of Westminster, graduating six years ago.
The University has released a statement expressing their shock at the revelation of the identity. They also highlighted that they “are working to implement the Government’s Prevent strategy to tackle extremism”.
Imperial College Union has condemned Prevent as it discourages the free expression and analysis of ideas and impinges on a basic function of universities: introducing students to a variety of opinions and encouraging them to analyse and debate them.
Mr Emwazi has been a person of interest to the British Security Services for some time: his name appears in a list of individuals connected to an extremist network in UK Court Proceedings from 2010, and was detained by counter- terrorism officials in 2010 when he visited London.
The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation said it believes the identification to be accurate, saying that the naming of Emwazi shows that “whatever efforts are made, the ability to mask one’s identity is limited or in fact impossible”.
