76% approve of Jihadi John’s execution in drone attack – poll

The majority of the British public are in favor of the reported extrajudicial killing of Islamic State executioner Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, in a drone strike last week, a poll has found.

The Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) militant was killed in a missile strike as he got into a car in the group’s Syrian stronghold of Raqqua last week. He was killed a few days before Friday’s attacks on Paris. 

Emwazi is thought to be responsible for several deaths, including the execution of two British aid workers, David Haines and Alan Henning.

From August 2014, he appeared in a series of graphic videos uploaded on YouTube in which he beheads his victims.

Since the drone strike, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Prime Minister David Cameron have quarreled over the legality of Emwazi’s killing.

However, a YouGov poll for The Times has found 76 percent of the public support the killing of Emwazi, while only 11 percent believe it was wrong.

A total of 1,688 adults were surveyed online on November 16 and 17.

Of the participants who said they voted Labour in May’s general election, 64 percent said it was “right to kill” Emwazi. They are at odds with Labour leader Corbyn, who has questioned the legality of the killing.

In an interview with ITV News, Corbyn said: “I question that. Surely if somebody is doing something wrong you act legally against them.

“If we are setting ourselves up as the West, as in accordance with the UN, with international law and of our own laws, then I think we have to act in accordance with them.

“I am awaiting an explanation of where the legal basis was for that incident that went on.

“Obviously people planning things to attack others is wrong, but there is a process to go on about that. That is why I am looking for a political process.”

Soon after making the comments, the Labour leader faced a backlash from his own MPs.

However, columnist Owen Jones defended Corbyn’s stance on Emwazi’s death, saying, “If you’re attacking Corbyn over Jihadi John, you’re attacking David Haines’ widow too.”

He pointed out that some of the victims’ relatives have said they would have preferred Emwazi to be captured and put on trial.

Dragana Haines, the widow of David, told the BBC that families of Emwazi’s victims would have gained “moral satisfaction” if he had stood trial for his crimes.

Cameron however defended the drone strike as an “act of self-defense” because of the threat Emwazi posed to British citizens.

Some 64 percent of those surveyed in the poll think the West should be doing more to tackle ISIS.

Additionally, 43 percent are in favor of sending ground troops back into Iraq to combat the terror group while 37 percent are against the idea.

The poll in The Times, which is owned by media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, also found 44 percent think Cameron is doing well, while 52 percent believe Corbyn is doing badly.