text: 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.
target: Mohammed Emwazi wanted to join al-Shabaab in Somalia, source claims .
  Stopped in 2009 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 .
  The same year Emwazi travelled to Syria where he joined Islamic State .