Kuwaiti MPs yesterday called on Jihadi John’s father, Jasem Emwazi, to publicly distance himself from his son’s actions by apologising – or leave the country.
Kuwaitis have become increasingly frustrated with the mixed messages coming from 51-year-old British citizen Mr Emwazi, whose family are said to have cost the British tax-payer up to £400,000 in the 20 years they have lived in the UK.
Last week, Mr Emwazi told former workmates his son was a ‘dog’ and hoped he would die, yet a few days later, his lawyer in Kuwait suggested there was ‘no proof’ the masked IS executioner-in-chief was in fact 26-year-old Mohammed.
Yesterday, Abdullah Yousef Al-Maayouf, a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly and chairman of the country’s Parliamentary interior and defence committee, called for Mr Emwazi to apologise or leave.
He said: ‘Kuwait is a safe, peaceful country and does not want to be associated with Mohammed Emwazi. What he has done is not his family’s fault, but they should apologise on his behalf and say they do not agree with it.
‘If they will not say this publicly, they should leave Kuwait.’
Mr Emwazi is believed to have been living in Kuwait with his eldest daughter Asma, 25, for the last two years while his wife Ghaneya and four other children remained in London – now guarded by armed police in a hotel.
Westminster council is reportedly still paying the rent on the family’s £600,000 flat even though the rules say housing benefit should normally be stopped after 13 weeks.
As members of the stateless Bedoon ethnic group, the Emwazis were granted asylum in the UK, claiming to have fled Kuwait in fear of persecution.
