Jihadi John's father labels son a dog, an animal, a terrorist

The father of Mohammed Emwazi had disowned his son and described him as a "dog, an animal and a terrorist", it has been reported.

Jassem Emwazi, 51, is reported to have made the angry comments to a work colleague after his son was named publicly as the alleged executioner of British hostages in Syria, known as Jihadi John, according to the Telegraph.

Mohammed Emwazi asked his parents for their blessing before going to Syria in 2013 to become a jihadi, but his father said 'To hell with my son' and said he hoped he would be killed.

The comments are reported to have been made in a phone call Mr Emwazi made to a colleague to explain his absence from his job in a Cooperative supermarket depot in Kuwait.

The colleague, Abu Meshaal, 40, said the revelation on Monday of his son's involvement in the Syrian conflict was a "catastrophe" for his family.

Mr Meshaal told the Telegraph: "He said, 'my son is a dog, he is an animal, a terrorist.

"He said he had talked to him a lot trying to persuade him to return to his personal life but that the son didn't listen to him.

"He said, 'To hell with my son'."

Mr Emwazi told the colleague that he had rejected his eldest son during a phone call in 2013 from Turkey when he had asked his parents' blessing for a trip to Syria to fight as a jihadist.

Mr Meshaal described Mr Emwazi as a "respectable and polite" man who used his proficiency in English to get along with the 60-strong workforce's various nationalities.

The father has been reported to feel so ashamed of his son that he no longer wanted to go to work or leave his house, and he has not been to work since the news of his son broke on Friday.

But it is understood he has been told by his employers and the Kuwait authorities that he is not being held responsible and there is no objection to him returning to work.