This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/14/world/europe/jihadi-john-mohammed-emwazi-david-cameron-statement.html

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
No Certainty ‘Jihadi John’ Was Killed in Airstrike, David Cameron Says Outcome of Airstrike Targeting ‘Jihadi John’ Is Unknown, Kerry and Cameron Say
(35 minutes later)
LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said on Friday that “we cannot yet be certain” whether an airstrike aimed at Mohammed Emwazi, the most prominent British member of the Islamic State, was successful, although he praised the United States for launching the attack. LONDON — Secretary of State John Kerry and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said on Friday that they did not yet know the outcome of an airstrike the American military launched on Thursday to kill Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State’s most notorious executioner.
Mr. Cameron spoke outside 10 Downing Street the morning after the Pentagon confirmed that the airstrike, near the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, had targeted Mr. Emwazi, who is commonly known as Jihadi John. The two officials spoke, in separate briefings in Tunis and London, the morning after the Pentagon confirmed that the airstrike, near the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, had targeted Mr. Emwazi, a British citizen who became known as Jihadi John.
Calling the Islamic State an “evil terrorist death cult,” Mr. Cameron defended the decision to target Mr. Emwazi, who was born in Kuwait and is a naturalized British citizen, as “an act of self-defense” and “the right thing to do.”Calling the Islamic State an “evil terrorist death cult,” Mr. Cameron defended the decision to target Mr. Emwazi, who was born in Kuwait and is a naturalized British citizen, as “an act of self-defense” and “the right thing to do.”
“We have been working with the United States literally around the clock to track him down,” Mr. Cameron said. “This was a combined effort, and the contribution of both our countries was essential. Emwazi is a barbaric murderer.” “We have been working, with the United States, literally around the clock to track him down,” Mr. Cameron said. “This was a combined effort, and the contribution of both our countries was essential. Emwazi is a barbaric murderer.”
Mr. Cameron called Mr. Emwazi, who is 27, a “ongoing and serious threat to innocent civilians not only in Syria, but around the world and in the United Kingdom, too.”Mr. Cameron called Mr. Emwazi, who is 27, a “ongoing and serious threat to innocent civilians not only in Syria, but around the world and in the United Kingdom, too.”
Using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS, Mr. Cameron added, “He was ISIL’s lead executioner, and let us never forget that he killed many, many Muslims, too.”Using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS, Mr. Cameron added, “He was ISIL’s lead executioner, and let us never forget that he killed many, many Muslims, too.”
At a news conference in Tunis, Mr. Kerry confirmed that the outcome of the airstrike was not yet known, but said that it should serve as a warning.
“We are still assessing the results of this strike, but the terrorists associated with Daesh need to know this: Your days are numbered, and you will be defeated,” Mr. Kerry said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. “There is no future, no path forward for Daesh, which does not lead ultimately to its elimination, to its destruction.”
Civil liberties advocates have criticized any official British attempt to kill Mr. Emwazi as possibly unlawful, in a debate that paralleled the criticism over the Obama administration’s decision to target and kill Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric and a United States citizen, in Yemen in 2011.Civil liberties advocates have criticized any official British attempt to kill Mr. Emwazi as possibly unlawful, in a debate that paralleled the criticism over the Obama administration’s decision to target and kill Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric and a United States citizen, in Yemen in 2011.
Mr. Emwazi, who was first known only as an unidentified, masked man with a British accent, first came to prominence in August 2014, when the Islamic State released a video in which the journalist James Foley was shown reading a statement criticizing President Obama and the American military operation against the Islamic State in Iraq. His captor then beheaded him off camera, and then threatened to behead another journalist, Steven J. Sotloff, if his demands were not met.
Two weeks later, the Islamic State released a video showing the masked man beheading Mr. Sotloff.
The Washington Post revealed Mr. Emwazi’s identity in February, reporting that he grew up in a well-off family that moved to Britain when he was a child, and that he had a degree in computer science from the University of Westminster. The revelation touched off intense examination of the causes of radicalization among Muslim immigrants in Europe.
Mr. Emwazi was part of a group of young men, called the “North London Boys” by some intelligence analysts, who traveled to Somalia, Syria and other Muslim countries to engage in organized violence.
British officials have said that Mr. Emwazi was on a list of potential terror suspects since 2009, but have acknowledged that they were unable to prevent him from traveling to Syria.
The airstrike came as scant consolation to Louise Woodward-Styles, a friend of the British aid worker Alan Henning, one of Mr. Emwazi’s victims. In a phone interview on Friday, she said that there would be no “closure, particularly for Alan’s family and close friends.”
Mr. Cameron made clear on Friday that his government had taken part in the United States’ decision to target Mr. Emwazi.Mr. Cameron made clear on Friday that his government had taken part in the United States’ decision to target Mr. Emwazi.
“The United Kingdom has no better friend or ally,” he said.“The United Kingdom has no better friend or ally,” he said.
He added, “If this strike was successful — and we still await confirmation of that — it will be a strike at the heart of ISIL, and it will demonstrate to those who would do Britain, our people and our allies harm we have a long reach, we have unwavering determination and we never forget about our citizens.”He added, “If this strike was successful — and we still await confirmation of that — it will be a strike at the heart of ISIL, and it will demonstrate to those who would do Britain, our people and our allies harm we have a long reach, we have unwavering determination and we never forget about our citizens.”
Mr. Cameron then recited a list of Mr. Emwazi’s reported victims: Kenji Goto, a journalist, and Haruna Yukawa, an adventurer, both Japanese; the American journalists Steven J. Sotloff and James Foley; the American aid worker Peter Kassig, also known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig; and two British aid workers, David Cawthorne Haines and Alan Henning. Mr. Cameron then recited a list of Mr. Emwazi’s reported victims: Kenji Goto, a journalist, and Haruna Yukawa, an adventurer, both Japanese; the American journalists, Mr. Foley and Mr. Sotloff; the American aid worker Peter Kassig, also known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig; and two British aid workers, David Cawthorne Haines and Mr. Henning.
“Nothing will bring back David and Alan,” Mr. Cameron said. “Their courage and selflessness stand in stark contrast to the empty callousness of their murderers. Their friends and their families should be proud of them, as we are. They were the best of British, and they will be remembered long after the murderers of ISIL are forgotten.”“Nothing will bring back David and Alan,” Mr. Cameron said. “Their courage and selflessness stand in stark contrast to the empty callousness of their murderers. Their friends and their families should be proud of them, as we are. They were the best of British, and they will be remembered long after the murderers of ISIL are forgotten.”