Islamic State confirms identity of dead British terrorist Jihadi John

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists have acknowledged the death of Jihadi John for the first time, saying that he "pretended to be unintelligent to trick MI5 officers". 

Isil pays homage to the British jihadi, who became the organisation's face of terror, appearing in a series of videos showing him beheading British and American hostages.

Isil's Dubiq online magazine confirmed Western intelligence reports that Emwazi, 27, was killed in an American drone strike in the Syrian city of Raqqa on November 12.

The article describes an attempt by Emwazi to travel from Britain to Kuwait when he was stopped and questioned by security services.

"During the interrogation, Abū Muhārib would present himself as unintelligent, as was his method when dealing with intelligence agencies. The Prophet said, 'War is deception'," Dabiq claimed.

Emwazi would later claim to the London-based campaign group Cage that while trying to return to Kuwait from Britain, in July 2010, the British authorities blocked him from travelling and put him on a terror watch list.

He later made one final attempt to enter Kuwait in early 2013. After being barred from entry he disappeared.

British police told his family they believe it was at this stage that he travelled to Syria to join Isil.

The Dabiq article claims Emwazi was able to trick MI5: "Right under the nose of the much-overrated MI5 British intelligence agency, Abū Muhārib together with his companion in hijrah carefully and secretly made their departure, utilising every means available to them."

Dabiq claims that Emwazi and a companion made their way overland "trekking the mountain ranges of Europe and its marshy farmlands, sneaking across borders, and being detained by the authorities of various nations on at least two occasions" before joining up with the terrorist organisation in Syria.

The article contradicts CAGE's assertion that Emwazi was radicalised as a result of his treatment by the British authorities.

It refers to Emwazi's childhood emigration with his family to London, describing it as a place he grew to hate along with its "kāfir (non-believing) people, whose customs were far-removed from the praiseworthy values he was much accustomed to".

It says he began to "embark on the path of hijrah and jihād" at around the time of the 7 July 2005 terrorist attacks on London's transport system, which it praises as 'blessed'".

The article lists Emwazi's participation in various Isil military conquests - including the takeover of Taftanāz airbase near Idlib and the 17th Division base near Raqqa - before appearing to obliquely heap praise on the acts which gained him worldwide infamy, the videoed beheadings of British, American and Japanese captives.

"His harshness towards the kāfir was manifested through deeds that enraged all the nations, religions, and factions of kāfir, the entire world bearing witness to this," the author writes.

The publication also claims that Emwazi was known for his "mercy, kindness, and generosity towards the believers, his protective jealousy for Islam and its people, and his affection towards the orphans"

"Of the deeds that attest to his kindness and generosity is that after receiving a sabiyyah (concubine) as a gift he did not hesitate to give her away – likewise as a gift – to an unmarried injured brother," it claimed.

Emwazi, dressed in black with a balaclava covering all but his eyes, came to the world's attention when he appeared in an Isil video brutally murdering the American journalist James Foley.

He later appeared in videos of the beheadings of US journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, and in November 2014, that of American aid worker Peter Kassig.

Western hostages who were released later told how Emwazi delighted in torturing them.

He was killed in an air strike in Raqqa on November 12, 2015.

Intelligence sources had been tracking Emwazi "for some time," Baghdad-based military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said at the time. 

"This guy was a human animal, and killing him probably makes the world a little bit better place," he added.

Dabiq also claimed that two of the jihadists behind the Paris attacks on November 13 were Iraqi.

The last page of the issue, which was distributed via online jihadist forums, is a photo montage headlined "Just Terror".

It shows the photographs of nine men in fatigues, set in typically stylised fashion against a landscape picture of Paris in black and white.

Two of them are identified as Iraqi.

Among the men pictured is Abdelhamid Abaaoud, identified by his nom de guerre Abu Umar al-Baljiki, or Abu Umar the Belgian. Prosecutors have named him as an alleged planner of the November 13 attacks that killed 130 people and sent shockwaves across the world.

Abaaoud was killed in a shootout with French police days after the bloodiest attacks to hit Europe since the Madrid train bombings in 2004.

The two men identified in Dabiq as Iraqis are named only as Ukashah al-Iraqi and Ali al-Iraqi.

Their full names remain unknown and no other information has been revealed.

Source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/12109251/Islamic-State-confirms-identity-of-dead-British-terrorist-Jihadi-John.html