US vows to hunt down 'Jihadi John'

A masked, black-clad militant, who has been identified by the Washington Post newspaper as a Briton named Mohammed Emwazi, brandishes a knife in this still image from a 2014 video obtained from SITE Intel Group. Picture: SITE Intel Group/Handout via Reuters

A masked, black-clad militant, who has been identified by the Washington Post newspaper as a Briton named Mohammed Emwazi, brandishes a knife in this still image from a 2014 video obtained from SITE Intel Group. Picture: SITE Intel Group/Handout via Reuters

Published Feb 27, 2015

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Washington - President Barack Obama's administration has pledged to kill or capture the masked Islamic State militant known as “Jihadi John,” who is pictured in videos beheading several hostages including Americans.

Attorney General Eric Holder said on CNN the United States “wouldn't put anything off the table,” including sending military troops, to “hunt” the man. He was identified by the Washington Post Thursday as Mohammed Emwazi, a 26-year-old from London.

“Anyone involved in the killing of American citizens will be held accountable,” Holder said in the interview broadcast Friday. “It doesn't matter where you are, we will find you. We will hunt you down.”

US intelligence and military officials said that British security officials uncovered Emwazi's real identity months ago. While the United States is allied with Britain in seeking to bring him and other extremists to justice, neither country has planned an operation to search him out inside Syria, they said.

Like hostage rescue efforts, the three officials said, the campaign against the extremist group has been hampered by a shortage of timely and accurate on-the-ground and human intelligence on the group's leaders and public figures such as Emwazi, especially in Syria.

The US keeps surveillance drones in orbit over areas where the extremists congregate, but the intelligence they provide is necessarily limited, the officials said.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified intelligence, the officials said the best chance to capture or kill Emwazi and others is likely to come if they venture outside IS-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq, or if they are careless in using radios, computers or mobile phones.

So far, though, said one of the officials, the group has been good at protecting its communications and has largely retreated from moving in open country, where its vehicles are vulnerable to drone strikes.

Holder spoke to CNN in one of several interviews granted as he prepares to leave office next month once the US Senate confirms his successor. His sentiments about the need to bring the masked jihadist to justice are shared by his boss, Obama, who made the call to send US Navy SEALs to kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011.

“Any time any American is harmed anywhere in the world, the United States government is going to to be going after that person,” Obama said Thursday in a televised interview with KOMO-TV in Seattle. “And eventually, if you hurt an American, you're going to be brought to justice in some fashion.”

Both Obama and Holder declined to confirm the identity of the masked militant or comment on the specific case.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday that US intelligence officials had “zeroed in on an individual” at the end of 2014 by working with British allies and that “the investigation is one that we are pursuing rather aggressively.”

“The United States' commitment and the president's commitment to ensuring that we find and hold accountable the terrorists who are responsible for the murders of American citizens has never been stronger,” Earnest said.

Emwazi, who was born in Kuwait, grew up in London in a well-to-do family and graduated from college before joining the Islamic State group in Syria, the Washington Post reported. He has appeared in a series of videos making threats against Americans and killing hostages including American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, British taxi driver Alan Henning and US aid worker Peter Kassig.

Holder told CNN he worries about a “lone-wolf” terrorist attack taking place within the US and urged shopping malls to increase their security measures to protect their customers.

Washington Post-Bloomberg

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