Spavaldo, while announcing other beheadings, turns to the camera in what is considered the first video of Jihadi John, probably the most famous terrorist of the "Islamic State". The 77 seconds video, released today by the Daily Mail Online, would have immortalized the 27enne Mohammed Emwazi, the cutthroat of the caliphate.
It was probably shot near the city of Deir Ezzor, in the south-east of Syria. The boy, dressed in black, wears a cap under his hood. Look at the camera, probably a cell phone for a few seconds. However, sufficient time to identify the cutthroat.
Despite the poor sound quality, Jihadi John clearly says he will cut off other heads.
"I am Mohammed Emwazi. I will soon return to Britain with the Khalifa (the head of the Islamic State)".
A graduate of the University of Westminster, with a thesis in computer programming, Mohammed Emwazi would have reached Syria in the 2012 for field indoctrination. A few months later he would become the executioner, the protagonist of those videos that have caused so much indignation in the West.
His first appearance dates back to last August, when he beheaded the American journalist James Foley.
According to the computerized analysis carried out on the other videos (vocal timbre, movements, cadence, pulse, height, fingerprints, physiological mapping, skin color and indicative weight), Emwazi would then execute the American journalist Steven Sotloff, the British humanitarian operator David Haines, British taxi driver Alan Henning and US humanitarian worker Peter Kassig.
In each video, the man appears dressed in a suit and with a black balaclava that completely covers him, but not his eyes and the upper part of his nose. Since the first video, the executioner has revealed some clues. His marked British accent, in the videos in which he taunts the Western powers before slaughtering the hostages, was the first piece of the mosaic.
The hostages released by ISIS reported that there were four Englishmen guarding the Westerners abducted in Syria and they were called "The Beatles". Emwazi was first arrested in 2009, Tanzania, where he would go on a safari after graduation with two friends (a German converted to Islam named Omar and another man, Abu Talib). In fact, the English authorities already suspected his affiliation with terrorist groups active in Somalia. Landed at the airport of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in May of 2009, they were arrested by the police and held overnight before being expelled. Emwazi then moved to Kuwait, his hometown, where he worked for a computer company. He returns to London at least twice before leaving for Syria.
MI6 would also have its fingerprints. The Hunter Killer of France, Germany, England, the United States and Australia have received the order to "eliminate the executioner".
