The daughter of slain ISIS hostage David Haines said Thursday she was happy to learn the identity of the British-born militant who appeared on her father's beheading video, but it would be nicer if he was dead.
"It's a good step but I think all the families will feel closure and relief once there's a bullet between his eyes," Bethany Haines told NBC News' U.K. partner ITV News.
The militant, known for months as "Jihad John," appeared in the videos showing the execution of American hostages James Foley and Steven Sotloff and Britons Alan Henning and David Haines.
On Thursday, a U.S. intelligence official told NBC News that the terrorist's real name was Mohammed Emwazi, confirming reports from the Washington Post and BBC. A human rights group who worked for years with Emwazi said he was a 26-year-old British citizen who was born in Kuwait and had become radicalized after getting harassed by U.K. security forces when he tried to travel abroad. He eventually made it into Syria and joined ISIS.
Bethany Haines said she would not criticize security forces for failing to stop Emwazi from reaching Syria. "It is shocking, but they're doing their job, they're doing the best they can they've not dealt with a so called Islamic State like this before," she said. "There's no right or wrong." She said she looked forward to the day when Emwazi is taken into custody. "Once he's captured there will be a lot of happy faces," she said.
