30,000 officers. We don´t have that.”
Menzies Campbell, a member of parliament´s intelligence and security committee, told BBC radio that lawmakers would look into the issue, adding: “There´s no doubt that from time to time the security services have got to prioritise those upon whom they are conducting surveillance”.
A spokeswoman for Cameron´s Downing Street office said it would not comment on “speculation” about the identity of “Jihadi John” and said the government´s priority was “bringing the murderers to justice and ensuring we protect any British citizens at risk”.
London mayor Boris Johnson meanwhile accused Cage of “an apology for terror” for blaming Emwazi´s radicalisation on his alleged detention and “harassment” by the British security services.
Cage, which published years of correspondence with Emwazi, said he had become radicalised following a post-graduation trip to Tanzania in 2009 when he was accused of seeking to join militants in Somalia.
It also alleged that MI5 had launched a failed bid to recruit him. “It was incredible that people could stand up and pretend that somehow it was the fault of the security forces,” Johnson said.
Guitta expressed concern about the number of people being radicalised in the West, saying that in giving forums to extremist preachers, “we are allowing people to put poison in the mind of those people”.
In the gruesome videos posted online, the masked executioner appears dressed all in black with only his eyes exposed, brandishing a knife while launching tirades against the West.
“Jihadi John”, nicknamed after Beatle John Lennon due to his British accent, is believed to be responsible for the murders of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning and American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig.
He also appeared in a video with Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto shortly before they were killed.
Families of the slain Western hostages said they hoped that the naming of the masked killer would help bring him to justice.
“My only hope is that the revelation of his identity will lead to his arrest and that he will be judged according to civilised law,” Dragana, the widow of David Haines, told AFP from her home in Croatia.
But Haines´ daughter Bethany told British news channel ITV that victims´ families would feel closure only “once there´s a bullet between his eyes”.