LONDON -- The Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John," who has appeared in several videos depicting the beheadings of Western hostages, is a British man from West London.
His name is Mohammed Emwazi, according to Washington Post and Guardian reports. He was known to British security services, which chose not to disclose his name earlier for operational reasons.
Emwazi graduated from college with a degree in computer programming, according to friends who spoke to the Washington Post. He was a quiet man in his mid-20s who was raised in a middle-class part of London, the paper reports.
Emwazi was first seen last August when he appeared in a video showing the killing of American journalist James Foley. He's since believed to have been pictured in videos depicting the beheadings of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines and British taxi driver Alan Henning and American aid worker Adbul-Rahman Kassig.
He was also apparently seen in videos with Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto before they were killed.
"Jihadi John" Emwazi is part of what the security services have previously described as an extremist network linked to al-Shabab / Somalia— Dominic Casciani (@BBCDomC) February 26, 2015
The Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) would not confirm the reports.
"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," Commander Richard Walton said.
A spokesperson from the University of Westminster confirmed that “a Mohammed Emwazi left the University six years ago."
"If these allegations are true, we are shocked and sickened by the news. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families."
“We have students from 150 countries and their safety is of paramount concern. With other universities in London, we are working to implement the Government’s Prevent strategy to tackle extremism."
The identity of Jihadi John has been the subject of much speculation since he first appeared in a video apparently showing the killing of Foley. He was given the nickname after a group of three British jihadists thought to be guarding prisoners were referred to as John, Paul and Ringo, after The Beatles.
After the initial videos featuring Jihadi John spread, some speculated that he may be London rapper L Jinny, aka Abdel-Majed Abdel-Bary.