'Jihadi John' Family Moved To Secret Location

Counter-terrorism officers have moved members of Mohammed Emwazi's family from their west London home to a secret location, Sky News understands.

The move is believed to have taken place on Monday night, with the family being escorted out of their home in Paddington.

Sky's Mark White said it is not clear how many people were moved, or who the family members are.

"It's possible it's his mother. We know he has brothers and sisters in the UK as well," said White.

There are also unconfirmed reports from Kuwait that Emwazi's family there might also have been moved to a safe house.

Mohammed Emwazi's father, who lives in the Gulf country, has reportedly said there is no proof his son is the Islamic State killer known as Jihadi John.

Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas says Jassem Emwazi dismissed claims he and his wife had told officials they recognised their son from the group's videos.

"There is nothing that proves what is being circulated in the media, especially through video clips and footage, that the accused is my son Mohammed, who is being referred to as the alleged executioner of Daesh (Islamic State)," Mr Emwazi was quoted as saying.

Mohammed Emwazi, from London, was named in the media last week as the masked man who appears in IS beheading videos posted on the internet .

But his father said: "I have a message to the Kuwaiti people that many of the rumours are false.

"Because I felt that some people have believed it, I have assigned a lawyer to defend me and to prove ... that what is being said is untrue."

Jassem Emwazi's lawyer, Salem al Hashash, said his client had been questioned by Kuwait’s interior ministry for three hours but released because he is not suspected of doing anything wrong.

He threatened legal action against people making unsubstantiated accusations and said a lawyer had also been appointed to defend family members in the UK.

Mohammed Emwazi, 26, was born in Kuwait and his parents moved to the UK in 1993 and settled in London.

The alleged killer graduated from the University of Westminster with a computing degree in 2009.

In an audio recording from that time Emwazi denied plans to become an extremist and condemned the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks .

But security experts believe he travelled to Syria in 2013 to join the terror group, eventually taking on the mantle of IS "executioner", responsible for beheading at least five hostages, Britons David Haines and Alan Henning and Americans James Foley, Stephen Sotloff and Peter Kassig.