Identity of ISIS terrorist known as 'Jihadi John' reportedly revealed

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Behind the mask: Who is 'Jihadi John'?

True identity and new details revealed of terrorist who has appeared in several videos showing the beheading of hostages

The true identity of the ISIS terrorist known as "Jihadi John," who has appeared in several videos showing the beheading of hostages, reportedly has been revealed.

The Washington Post first reported Thursday, citing friends and human rights workers familiar with the case, that the man's real name is Mohammed Emwazi, a west London man who had been detained by counterterror officials in Britain at least once, in 2010.

Two U.S. government sources who spoke to Reuters Thursday said investigators believe the man is Emwazi.

According to The Washington Post and the BBC, Emwazi was born in Kuwait and studied computer programming at the University of Westminster. The university confirmed that a student of that name graduated in 2009.

"If these allegations are true, we are shocked and sickened by the news," the university said in a statement.

Emwazi is also thought to have traveled to Syria sometime in or around 2012.

This still from a video released last August by ISIS shows American James Foley with a man believed to be Mohammed Emwazi, formerly known by the alias, "Jihadi John." (Reuters)

The BBC reported that British intelligence had previously identified the man, but had chosen not to disclose his name for operational reasons.

Commander Richard Walton of the London Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command released a statement saying, "We have previously asked media outlets not to speculate about the details of our investigation on the basis that life is at risk. We are not going to confirm the identity of anyone at this stage or give an update on the progress of this live counter-terrorism investigation."

London-based CAGE, which works with Muslims in conflict with British intelligence services, said Thursday its research director, Asim Qureshi, saw strong similarities between Emwazi and "Jihadi John," but because of the hood worn by the militant, "there was no way he could be 100 percent certain."

The Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence at King's College London, which closely tracks fighters in Syria, also said it believed the identification was correct.

The masked and hooded terrorist achieved instant notoriety when he appeared in a video released by ISIS last August that showed the beheading of American journalist James Foley. At the time, many commentators and analysts remarked on the man's distinct London accent.

The man is believed to have appeared in other videos that showed the beheading of other hostages, including American journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, British taxi driver Alan Henning, and American aid worker Peter Kassig, known as Abdul-Rahman after his apparent conversion to Islam in captivity.

The man's most recent appearance came last month in a video with Japanese hostages Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa. Both men also were killed by the terror group.

The terrorist was given the nickname "Jihadi John" after interviews with former ISIS hostages revealed him to be part of a group of British jihadists who guarded the hostages and were dubbed "The Beatles."

The BBC reported that Emwazi is believed to be an associate of a known terror suspect who traveled to Somalia in 2006, and is allegedly linked to a funding network for the Somali-based militant group Al Shabaab.

CAGE said it has been in contact with Emwazi for more than two years after he accused British intelligence services of harassing him. It said that in 2010 he alleged British spies were preventing him from traveling to the country of his birth, Kuwait, where he planned to marry.

No one answered the door at the brick row house in west London where the Emwazi family is alleged to have lived. Neighbors in the surrounding area of public housing projects either declined comment or said they didn't know the family.

Neighbor Janine Kintenda, 47, who said she'd lived in the area for 16 years, was shocked at the news.

"Oh my God," she told The Associated Press, lifting her hand to her mouth. "This is bad. This is bad."

Shiraz Maher of the King's College radicalization center said he was investigating whether Emwazi was among a group of young West Londoners who traveled to Syria in about 2012.

Many of them are now dead, including Mohammad el-Araj, Ibrahim al-Mazwagi and Choukri Ellekhlifi, all killed in 2013.

He said Emwazi's background was similar to that of other British jihadis, and disproved the idea "that these guys are all impoverished, that they're coming from deprived backgrounds."

"They are by and large upwardly mobile people, well educated," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.