[In the Drunk Tank]

How do we know they kept quiet? They reported him missing to the police four months before it was discovered he was in Syria, that surely suggests they were not aware of his plans. And the security services have known of his identity for some time so how do we know they didn't have regular communication with the family? The family aren't going to publicly out him if the security services are asking them to keep schtum are they?

[Livia]

Originally Posted by MTVN

How do we know they kept quiet? They reported him missing to the police four months before it was discovered he was in Syria, that surely suggests they were not aware of his plans. And the security services have known of his identity for some time so how do we know they didn't have regular communication with the family? The family aren't going to publicly out him if the security services are asking them to keep schtum are they?

My personal feeling is that if the security services had known his identity from the off, then it would have been made public and so taken all the mystery and speculation out of it, which tends to give these things an air of mystery. In any case... if the family have not been a part of this before I feel sure they're now helping with enquiries.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Livia

My personal feeling is that if the security services had known his identity from the off, then it would have been made public and so taken all the mystery and speculation out of it, which tends to give these things an air of mystery. In any case... if the family have not been a part of this before I feel sure they're now helping with enquiries.

But MI5
did not want him public as he was to be Shot
out there,
the USA Washington post
put his name out,
now Front pages for days will be his mates
ex girls etc

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Livia

My personal feeling is that if the security services had known his identity from the off, then it would have been made public and so taken all the mystery and speculation out of it, which tends to give these things an air of mystery. In any case... if the family have not been a part of this before I feel sure they're now helping with enquiries.

If it is true that this man had been approached by / watched by MI5 in the past, then honestly I think it's unlikely to the point of bearing nearly impossible that they didn't know - or at least have a very good idea - that he had become "Jihadi John". You're always saying how great these services are at their jobs. If the agents who had approached / watch him didn't realise it was him... Then they're not "great" at all, they are in fact quite unbelievably useless.

If everyone is so sure that his family "must have" recognised him then professionals - trained in observation techniques - who had been examining him previously "must have" recognised him, too. They may well have had their reasons for not releasing his identity but I personally have no doubt that they've pretty much known his identity since the very first video.