The man with a British accent who appears in Islamic State videos showing American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and others being beheaded in Syria has been identified as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British citizen, according to a Western official in Washington.
Emwazi is in his mid-20s and grew up in London. Hostages had given him the nickname "Jihadi John." He was identified by British security forces several months ago, the official said Thursday, but his name was kept secret to help intelligence officials better track his communications and movements.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal assessments.
Emwazi was identified earlier in the day by the Washington Post, which quoted "friends and others familiar with his case." He was believed to have traveled to Syria around 2012 and later joined Islamic State, the Post said.
The BBC also named him and said he is known to British security services who chose not to identify him earlier for "operational reasons."
The network reported that plain-clothed police officers visited the family home in west London on Thursday morning but found no one at home. Neighbors said they had not seen family members in a few days nor Emwazi for several years.
The Obama administration refused to confirm the reports. National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement that the killing of American citizens by Islamic State remains an ongoing investigation.
"We will not comment on ongoing investigations and therefore are not in a position to confirm or deny the identity of this individual," she said. "As the president has said, no matter how long it takes, the United States will not rest until we find and hold accountable the terrorists who are responsible for the murders of our citizens."
The British government also was "neither confirming nor denying speculation over the name" of the man in the beheading videos, Jessica Jennings, a spokeswoman with the British Embassy in Washington said in a telephone interview.
In London, the advocacy group CAGE, set up by a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, gave a news conference to describe its contact with Emwazi.
"The Mohammed I knew was extremely kind, extremely gentle, extremely soft spoken," CAGE Research director Asim Qureshi said.
He explained that Emwazi first visited CAGE in the summer of 2009 after attempting to travel to Tanzania with friends. Emwazi told CAGE's staff that they were detained at the airport and sent back to the Britain, where he was quizzed by MI5, the domestic intelligence service.
Quershi said Emwazi was repeatedly asked what "type" of Muslim he was and informed that authorities believed he was traveling to the region with the intention of joining militant group Shabab. MI5 officers also asked Emwazi if he was willing to become an MI5 informant, Quershi said.
He lived in Kuwait for a time, returned to Britain in 2010 and was prevented from returning the the Persian Gulf nation, Qureshi said. Emwazi disappeared in 2013, he added.
Emwazi's family is still not convinced that their son is the man pictured in the beheading videos and known as "Jihadi John," Qureshi said.
"How can it possibly be that these two people are the same person," the family said, according to Qureshi. "Lots of questions remain about what happened after he left for Syria."
"Jihadi John" first appeared in a video showing the beheading of Foley last August. He spoke to the camera with a strong English accent.
He appeared to brutally kill Foley and was later seen in other videos that showed the slayings of Islamic State hostages, including Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, British taxi driver Alan Henning and U.S. aid worker Abdul Rahman Kassig.
In the recordings, he stands menacingly beside his victims, clad head to toe in black with his face masked by a balaclava and only his eyes visible.
Authorities used voice analysis to try to identify him, and former hostages were interviewed to gather any clues about his real identity.
Boyle is a special correspondent and reported from London. Staff writer Bennett reported from Washington.
8:30 a.m.: This article has been updated with statements from Asim Qureshi.
7:35 a.m.: This article has been updated with a Western official in Washington confirming the identification of the British suspect.
7:15 a.m.: This article has been updated with the refusal of the British Embassy and the Obama administration to confirm the reported identity of "Jihadi John."
The article was originally published at 4:11 a.m.
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