Tri-Service

Reports Name IS Militant 'Jihadi John' as British National

It's being reported that a masked Islamic State militant, seen with a knife in videos of beheadings released by the group, has been named as a British national.

According to the Washington Post, the man nicknamed 'Jihadi John' by the media has been identified by friends and others familiar with the case as Mohammed Emwazi, from West London.

British radicalisation experts said they believed the identity to be ''accurate and correct''.

The IS militant rose to notoriety after he first appeared in a video posted online last August, in which he appeared to kill the American journalist James Foley.

A statement from the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at King's College London said: ''We believe the identity and name published by the Washington Post and now in the public realm to be accurate and correct.''

Security services, meanwhile, are facing growing questions over claims he was known to MI5 - while relatives say they want him to be captured alive.