A former ISIS fighter has described Mohammed Emwazi, the man revealed to be executioner “Jihadi John†as a loner who shunned other jihadists. Abu Ayman, who has since left the so-called Islamic State, said he met the 26-year-old in Syria two years ago, before he started his killing spree in the group’s gory propaganda videos. After the beheading of US journalist James Foley, British aid worker David Haines and several other hostages, Emwazi has come to be seen as a poster boy for the extremist group. But Ayman said there was “nothing special†about the Westminster University graduate and that ISIS had engineered his twisted fame. “Some joined ISIS after watching and admiring him - they take him as an example,†he told to media. “ISIS play him like a piano. He's a celebrity to attract our Muslim brothers in Europe but some think he is showing off. They think he's being used by ISIS." He claimed to have met Emwazi shortly after his arrival in Syria, when they were both with Islamist groups fighting Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the civil war. The pair were among a number of British fighters in the town of Atmeh in the north of the country, where they managed to take over homes and bragged about “five star jihad†on Twitter and Instagram. Ayman said Emwazi always stood apart from the group, adding: "He was cold. He didn't talk much. He wouldn't join us in prayer."He'd only pray with his friends ... the other British brothers prayed with us, but he was strange. "The other British brothers would say 'Hi' when they saw us on the road, but he turned his face away. The British fighters were always hanging out together, but he wouldn't join them." Ayman said he defected from ISIS after superiors ordered him to murder women and children and believes that others will also flee at the first opportunity. Emwazi is believed to have fled to Syria in 2012 or 2013 after changing his name and MI5 has come under fire for failing to prevent him from joining ISIS.
