Mohammed Emwazi: London man unmasked as Jihadi John 'felt like dead man walking after MI5 encounter'

 
Killer: Security services have faced pressure in the wake of this week's revelations about the identity of Jihadi John
Standard Reporter1 March 2015

The London man unmasked as Jihadi John felt like a "dead man walking" after run-ins with British security services, according to email exchanges with a journalist.

University of Westminster graduate Mohammed Emwazi said he considered suicide after an encounter with an apparent British spook as he attempted to sell a laptop computer in 2010.

In a series of emails in 2010, three years before he left to join IS, he told the Mail on Sunday's security editor Robert Verkaik he felt harassed by security services, saying: "Sometimes I feel like a dead man walking, not fearing they (MI5) may kill me.

"Rather, fearing that one day, I'll take as many pills as I can so that I will sleep for ever! I just want to get away from these people!"

It comes as British security services face pressure over accusations of failing to keep track of potential terror suspects and forcing desperate British Muslims into the clutches of Islamic extremist groups.

Home Secretary Theresa May rallied to the defence of the UK's security and intelligence services, calling them "true heroes", following claims on Thursday by campaign group Cage that MI5 drove Emwazi to extremism.

Kuwait-born Londoner Emwazi had been pinpointed as a potential terrorist by the British authorities but was nonetheless able to travel to Syria in 2013 and join a group responsible for the murder of several Western hostages.

The University of Westminster has also hit back at claims it is a fertile breeding ground for Islamic fundamentalism as arguments rage about who is to blame over Jihadi John.

Responding to claims tonight from a fellow former student that the university allowed extremism, a spokesman for the institution said: "We condemn the promotion of radicalisation, terrorism and violence or threats against any member of our community.

"We have strict policies to promote tolerance among our 20,000 student community, who come to study from over 150 nations."

Jihadi John rose to notoriety after he first appeared in a video posted online last August, in which he appeared to kill American journalist James Foley.

Last month, the militant appeared in a video with Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto, shortly before they were killed.

Reports have also suggested Emwazi was part of a terror cell dubbed The London Boys, which included three members - closely linked to Emwazi - who allegedly trained at an Al Qaeda camp. Details of his involvement in the cell were reportedly disclosed during a court hearing in 2011 - two years before Emwazi fled for Syria after complaining to Cage of harassment from the secret services.

Education chiefs are examining evidence about the north London school attended by Emwazi - which reportedly also educated two others in the same period as Jihadi John, who went on to become Islamist fighters.

The Sunday Telegraph said both Quintin Kynaston Academy (QK) pupils had died fighting for terror groups, one in Syria and the other for al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al Qaida in Somalia.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said the St John's Wood institution "is clearly a completely different school today" but that lessons could be learned from examining how it and others operated at the time.