'Jihadi John' unmasked: IS militant beheader named as Mohammed Emwazi from London

'Jihadi John' has been identified as a Kuwaiti-born British man, Mohammed Enwazi. He is in his mid-20s and from west London.

18:12 26 February 2015

“Jihadi John”, the IS militant who first appeared in a video last August when he apparently beheaded the American journalist James Foley, has been named.

The BBC initially broke the news. He is Mohammed Enwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man in his mid-20s from west London. He was previously known to British security services.

He was later thought to have been pictured in the videos of the beheadings of US journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, British taxi driver Alan Henning, and American aid worker Abdul Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter.

Enwazi wrote an email in 2010 where he said: "I had a job waiting for me and marriage to get started.

"[But now] I feel like a prisoner, only not in a cage, in London," he added, "a person imprisoned and controlled by security service men, stopping me from living my new life in my birthplace and country, Kuwait."