Mohammed Emwazi , the British jihadi now known as Jihadi John , planned to join a different terror group in Somalia years before becoming a member of ISIS , it has been reported . Emwazi , who is originally from London , was planning on joining al-Shabaab in Africa but changed his mind after his friends were killed amid accusations they were set up by rival group members . Instead he travelled to Syria where he joined Islamic State and became synonymous with their gruesome beheading videos posted online . Scroll for video . Mohammed Emwazi ( left ) , now known as masked killer Jihadi John ( right ) , planned to join al-Shabaab in Somalia before going to Syria because two of his friends were killed , a source has said . According to a 29-year-old Syrian , named only as Ayman , Emwazi was obsessed with al-Shabaab and constantly spoke about the fighting in Somalia . In an interview with The Independent , Ayman says Emwazi once confided in him that he planned to join al-Shabaab before coming to Syria because Somalia was too dangerous . Ayman , who said he met Emwazi in Syria after ISIS captured his hometown , added : 'Mohammed was obsessed with al-Shabaab , he was angry about what happened in Africa . 'Some of his friends had been killed , some sent to prison and he thought they had been betrayed . ' Emwazi became convinced al-Shabaab had been infiltrated by Western spies after friends Bilal al-Berjawi ( pictured ) and Mohammed Sakr were killed . The friends referred to are likely to be Bilal al-Berjawi and Mohammed Sakr , two members of the 'London Boys ' gang of extremists that grew up with Emwazi in Maida Vale , north west London . Al-Berjawi passed through UK Border Control at least five times between 2006 and 2009 as he travelled between London and African terror cells , and helped to radicalise Emwazi while in the UK . Three years ago he was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Somalia , and according to Ayman , Emwazi was convinced that his location had been given to the Americans by fellow members of al-Shabaab during an internal power struggle . Emwazi also believed that another friend , Mohammed Sakr , who at one time had lived next door to al-Berjawi , was also betrayed to his death after he was killed in February 2012 , also in Somalia . Emwazi has previously been accused of trying to join al-Shabaab , and was detained in August 2009 after flying to Tanzania in east Africa with a group of friends . They had claimed to be going on a wildlife safari , but were sent back to the Netherlands by security forced , where Emwazi later claimed he was questioned by an MI5 agent who tried to recruit him . Al-Berjawi and Sakr were also detained in Kenya around the same time , but later returned to Africa and were able to make it to Somalia , where they joined the fighting . Ayman claims that Emwazi also intended to return , but after his friends were killed he decided against it , believing al-Shabaab had been infiltrated by Western spies and was too dangerous . He added : 'Perhaps the British should be sorry they did not let him go to Somalia , he would probably be dead now like his friends . ' In 2012 , Emwazi fled Britain for Syria , despite being on terror watchlists , where he eventually joined the ranks of ISIS . Emwazi was accused of trying to join al-Shabaab in 2009 when he flew to Tanzania before being sent back home by security force . He joined ISIS in Syria in 2012 ( pictured , al-Shabaab militants in Somalia ) It is thought that during the early stages of the conflict Emwazi was a prison guard , along with three other Britons , leading to them being nicknamed The Beatles . Escaped captives had given him the name John , after Beatles lyricist John Lennon , which eventually became Jihadi John . In previous interviews , French hostages have described how Emwazi talked to them about al-Shabaab and the war in Somalia , making them watch videos of the fighting there . Emwazi first rose to international attention in August 2014 when he appeared in a video showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley . Since then he has been seen in videos showing the beheading of Steven Sotloff , another American journalist , Peter Kassig , a former U.S. solider . Also murdered at the hands of Emwazi were David Haines and Alan Henning , two British aid workers , and Japanese hostages Kenji Goto and Haruna Yakuwa .
Mohammed Emwazi wanted to join al-Shabaab in Somalia , source claims . Stopped in The same year after flying to Africa and was put on flight back home . Source claims he intended to go back , but did not after friends were killed . Bilal al-Berjawi and Mohammed Sakr died during drone strikes in 2012 . 2009 Emwazi travelled to Syria where he joined Islamic State .