Mohammed Emwazi, known as 'Jihadi John', was born in Kuwait in 1988 and came to the UK at age six. He attended Quintin Kynaston Community Academy in St John's Wood, north London, where former headteacher Jo Shuter described him as a 'reasonably hardworking' pupil who never raised alarm. She recalled he was a quiet young man with caring responsibilities as the oldest sibling, and had issues with bullying in year nine.
After completing a computing degree at the University of Westminster in 2009, Emwazi lived in Queen's Park, north-west London. That same year, he travelled to Tanzania with two friends, including a Briton known as 'Abu Talib' and a German convert called 'Omar'. They were denied entry and deported; a Tanzanian police officer said Emwazi was drunk and abusive at the airport, causing 'chaos'.
Emwazi later claimed to the campaign group Cage that he was harassed and interrogated by security services. However, Tanzanian immigration commissioner Abdullah Khamis Abdullah said no other country instructed them to stop him. Emwazi alleged he was threatened at gunpoint and that MI5 contacted his fiancée, leading to their breakup, but he was not charged.
MI5 viewed Emwazi as an associate of high-profile suspected jihadists. One was 'CE', placed on a control order in 2011. Court documents linked Emwazi to others providing funds and equipment for terrorism in Somalia, and facilitating travel from the UK. Among them were Ibrahim Magag (BX), who went on the run, and Bilal Berjawi, killed in a US drone strike after being stripped of British citizenship. Another associate, 'J1', was linked to the failed 21 July 2005 London bombings.
