The USA has said it is “reasonably certain” Mohammed Emwazi, the IS militant known as “Jihadi John”, has been killed in an US-led drone attack.
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Dragana Haines told The Associated Press in a brief phone interview Friday from her home in Croatia that it would have been much better for the families of the victims if Mohammed Emwazi, believed to be the masked man who beheaded several Western hostages, had faced a trial.
The strike came as the USA president is trying to boost US efforts to defeat Islamic State, including sending a small contingent of USA special forces troops to Syria.
Experts said Emwazi’s death may not make much difference to Islamic State or to the struggle against radicalisation among a few young British Muslims.
It has emerged that the Home Office will be powerless to stop Jihadi John’s Syria-born son coming to live in Britain at a few point in the future, the report said.
“Defense once they have had an opportunity to take a close look at what exactly occurred”, he said. He describes Emwazi as a “strategist” and “intimately involved” in Islamic State efforts to use social media to radicalize and recruit followers.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters the operation against Emwazi did not require prior presidential approval because it was conducted under guidance Obama laid down for the fight against Islamic State, which includes going after their leaders.
Haines, whose husband was killed last September, adds Emwazi’s possible death “means very little because David is not here with us and there is no way to bring him back'”.
One other person was killed in the strike on a vehicle Emwazi was riding in, Warren said, without elaborating. He says the USA has killed one mid- to upper-level ISIL leader every two days since May.
Emwazi was believed to be the black-hooded jihadi with the British accent and a flair for bloodthirsty propaganda films who took a knife to the throat of journalist James Foley of New Hampshire – among too many others. A British drone, operating from Lincolnshire, helped track Jihadi John, although what are believed to have been the fatal shots were fired by the Americans. The group of terrorists from Britain had been dubbed “the Beatles”.
The former IT student rose to prominence after appearing in a video showing the murder of United States journalist James Foley in August previous year.
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Emwazi’s identity became public earlier this year.
