The father of Mohammed Emwazi described his son as a "dog, an animal and a terrorist" and revealed he begged his parents for forgiveness before joining Isil and becoming Jihadi John, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.
But instead of forgiving him, Jassem Emwazi, 51, told his son that he hoped he would be killed after he said he was going to Syria “for jihad” in 2013.
Mr Emwazi's views on his son were made plain in an emotional phone call he made to a colleague to explain his absence from his job as a storekeeper in Cooperative supermarket depot in an isolated rural area around 12 miles from Kuwait's border with Iraq.
The colleague, Abu Meshaal, 40, said Mr Emwazi was in tears during Monday's conversation, in which he described the identification of his son as the hooded executioner filmed beheading seven British, American and Japanese hostages as a "catastrophe" for his family.
"He was very emotional and crying the whole time," said Mr Meshaal. "He said, 'my son is a dog, he is an animal, a terrorist. He said he had talked to him a lot trying to persuade him to return to his personal life but that the son didn't listen to him. He said, 'To hell with my son'."
Mr Emwazi told the colleague that he had emphatically rejected his eldest son during a phone call in 2013 from Turkey when he had asked his parents' blessing for a trip to Syria to fight as a jihadist.
"Mohammed called his father and said 'I'm going to Syria to fight jihad, please release me and forgive me for everything'," Mr Meshaal said. "Jassem said, "f*** you. I hope you die before you arrive in Syria."
Mr Emwazi, who was interrogated by Kuwaiti investigators on Sunday, said he felt so ashamed of his son that he no longer wanted to come to work or even leave his house in al-Oyoun.
"He said he cannot come back to work because he felt so shy of other people," said Mr Meshaal. "He is sitting home and cannot even go to the mosque to pray because he is ashamed of his son. He doesn't want people to see him, so he is praying at home."
Mr Emwazi told the colleague that he had emphatically rejected his eldest son during a phone call in 2013 from Turkey when he had asked his parents' blessing for a trip to Syria to fight as a jihadist.
"Mohammed called his father and said 'I'm going to Syria to fight jihad, please release me and forgive me for everything'," Mr Meshaal said. "Jassem said, "f*** you. I hope you die before you arrive in Syria."
Mr Emwazi, who was interrogated by Kuwaiti investigators on Sunday, said he felt so ashamed of his son that he no longer wanted to come to work or even leave his house in al-Oyoun.
"He said he cannot come back to work because he felt so shy of other people," said Mr Meshaal. "He is sitting home and cannot even go to the mosque to pray because he is ashamed of his son. He doesn't want people to see him, so he is praying at home."