Jihadi John's father 'a bully and a collaborator with Saddam'

The father of Jihadi John moved his family to Britain from their native Kuwait after being accused of collaborating with Saddam Hussein’s forces during Iraq’s invasion of the country, it was claimed yesterday.

A picture of Jasem Emwazi has emerged which suggests he is a conservative Muslim who shielded his children from Western culture.

Meanwhile his daughter’s former boss revealed how he had been aggressively confronted by Mr Emwazi after he was forced to sack her.

Mr Emwazi is now believed to be in hiding in Kuwait after his 26-year-old son Mohammed was last week identified as the masked Islamic State butcher who has fronted horrific hostage execution videos.

Because he was originally from southern Iraq, he found his loyalties questioned after Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990.

He and his family applied to become Kuwaiti citizens but were turned down after facing allegations that they collaborated with the Iraqi army during the seven-month occupation, Kuwait’s Al Qabas newspaper reported.  

Mr Emwazi then took his wife and his children, including Mohammed, to live in Britain in 1993. They settled in the north-west London suburbs of Maida Vale and Queens Park.

Last night it was revealed that Mohammed Emwazi worked as a top salesman for a Kuwaiti IT company aged 21. His former boss told the Guardian that he was ‘the best employee we ever had’.

‘He was very good with people. Calm and decent. He came to our door and gave us his CV,’ he added.

Emwazi earned 300 Kuwaiti dinars (£657) per month, plus 50 dinars (£109) expenses, and was promised 5 per cent commission on business he brought in.

During his time at the company in Kuwait City he requested time off to travel to London on two separate occasions. He left for good in April 2010. 

Soon after, counter-terrorism officials in London detained him and prevented him from returning to Kuwait.

His father is now understood to be in Kuwait with other members of the family. The Kuwaiti security services are said to be monitoring them around the clock. 

They spoke to Mr Emwazi on Saturday night, Channel 4 News reported. Contacted by phone yesterday, he said in a troubled voice: ‘Yes, I am Mohammed’s father. 

'I am sorry but I don’t want to talk to the media.’