The father of Jihadi John is “ashamed” of his maniacal son — describing him as a “dog, an animal and a terrorist” who he hoped “would be killed” after fleeing to Syria, a co-worker said.
Abu Meshaal, who works with Jassem Emwazi as a storekeeper in Kuwait, told the Telegraph that he received a phone call Monday from his colleague in which he condemned the ISIS savagery committed by his son, Mohammed.
“He was very emotional and crying the whole time,” Meshaal explained. “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.'”
Meshaal added that when Mr. Emwazi’s son called from Turkey in 2013 to ask his parents’ blessing for a trip to Syria to wage jihad, the enraged dad told him, “F–k you. I hope you die before you arrive in Syria.”
Little did he know at the time that his own flesh and blood would evolve to become the Islamic State poster boy seen in gruesome videos last year in which at least five Western hostages are beheaded.
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Mr. Emwazi has now refused to leave his house in Al-Oyoun, Kuwait, or go to work because he feels “so shy of other people,” Meshaal said.
“Jihadi John” is seen with American captive Steven Sotloff, who was beheaded by the terrorist group.
“He is sitting home and cannot even go to the mosque to pray because he is ashamed of his son,” he explained. “He doesn’t want people to see him, so he is praying at home.”
Another co-worker, speaking anonymously, told Kuwait’s Qabbas newspaper that Mr. Emwazi had opened up to colleagues in the past about how hard it was to discipline Mohammed.
“All I know is that he was talking about his son, whose behavior he was not able to control,” he said. “He was so tired and kept on repeating that ‘my son is not a good son.’”
Mr. Emwazi has not shown up for work since last Friday — just one day after his son was publicly identified as the man behind the mask, according to the Telegraph.
Meanwhile, reports emerged Tuesday that Jihadi John had once denied being an Islamic extremist — claiming on audio tapes that he thought the 9/11 attacks were “wrong” and that “everyone has got his right to his own belief.”