THE C of E primary school attended by Mohammed Emwazi -
identified last week as the Islamic State terrorist "Jihadi John" -
has remained silent about his time at the school.
St Mary Magdalene C of E Primary School, near Paddington, west
London, has not commented on the connection, and the diocese of
London also declined to comment.
After his identity was revealed by The Washington Post,
more details have emerged of Mr Emwazi's background. He was born in
Kuwait, but grew up in Britain, joining St Mary Magdalene in 1996.
He later at- tended Quinton Kynaston School (QK), in St John's
Wood, west London.
A former teacher at the secondary school told the BBC that Mr
Emwazi had had therapy to control his anger, but that he was also a
"lovely boy" who did not have a troubled background, and had left
the school with good qualifications.
In a statement, the school said that it was "shocked and
sickened" that Mr Emwazi had gone on to join IS in Syria: "QK has
been extremely proactive in working with the Government's Prevent
strategy [a counter-radicalisation programme] . . . and will
continue to be so for the foreseeable future."
Mr Emwazi later studied computing at the University of
Westminster, before leaving for Syria in 2013. He became infamous
after appearing on numerous IS videos, with his face covered by a
black mask, holding a knife up to the camera before appearing to
behead hostages, including journalists and aid workers.
The organisation Cage, which campaigns on behalf of those it
claims are being harassed by the security services, said last week
that Mr Emwazi appealed for its help in 2009, after he was briefly
detained and questioned by intelligence officers while trying to
visit Tanzania.
He was accused of attempting to reach the civil war in Somalia,
and was asked to become an informant for MI5. Cage said that he was
then repeatedly prevented from emigrating to Kuwait.
A Downing Street spokesman said that any suggestion that Mr
Emwazi had become a jihadist because of MI5's actions was
"completely reprehensible". The Prime Minister had praised the work
of "extraordinary men and women" from the security services, the
spokesman said.