麻豆约拍

Mishal Husain interviewed Sir John Sawers, former head of the Secret Intelligence Service, most commonly known as MI6.

He defended the role of the security and intelligence services amid claims that they failed to monitor effectively Mohammed Emwazi.

The Kuwaiti-born British citizen, who lived in west London, was named on 27 February as 'Jihadi John', who is believed to be responsible for the beheadings of Western hostages by Islamic State.

Sir John Sawers, who left MI6 last November, praised the security agencies for doing a "professional job" by being aware of individuals who might pose a threat.

He said there were "several thousand" of them and the numbers were rising as more were radicalised in Syria and Iraq. Mohammed Emwazi had come to the attention of MI5 several years before he joined Islamic State.

But Sir John said there weren't enough resources and it would be contrary to principles of human rights to round up or monitor everyone separately.

You can hear the full interview with Sir John Sawers on the Today programme 28 February from 7am.

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