PRIME MINISTER David Cameron described Britain’s role in the extrajudicial killing of one of its own citizens as “the right thing to do” yesterday — but faced criticism over his attitude toward “state-sponsored assassinations.”

Mr Cameron was speaking following unconfirmed reports that Mohammed Emwazi, also known as “Jihadi John,” had been killed in a British-US drone strike against terror group Islamic State (Isis).

Mr Cameron said Britain had been working “hand in glove” round the clock with US operatives to track down and target the militant, who he described as Isis’s “lead executioner.”

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook confirmed US forces conducted an air strike in Raqqa on Thursday night targeting Emwazi.

In a statement outside 10 Downing Street, Mr Cameron argued Emwazi had remained a threat to innocent people, including in Britain.

“This was an act of self-defence. It was the right thing to do,” he said.

However many of the victim’s families and friends have said they wanted Emwazi caught alive.

Mr Haines’s widow Dragana said Emwazi did not deserve an “honourable” death and there would have been “moral satisfaction” if he had been captured alive.

Louise Woodward-Styles, a friend of murdered hostage Alan Henning who organised a candlelit vigil for the taxi driver after he was captured, was “sceptical” about labelling the killing as a success.

“Drones are not the answer, nor is bombing innocent people,” she said. “I would rather he be brought back to face justice.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “We await identification of the person targeted in last night’s US air attack in Syria.

“It appears Mohammed Emwazi has been held to account for his callous and brutal crimes.

“However, it would have been far better for us all if he had been held to account in a court of law.

“These events only underline the necessity of accelerating international efforts, under the auspices of the UN, to bring an end to the Syrian conflict as part of a comprehensive regional settlement.”

Campaigning group Cage also criticised the move, reaffirming its opposition to extrajudicial killing of any kind.

“State-sponsored targeted assassinations undercut the judicial processes that provide the lessons by which spirals of violence can be stopped,”it said in a statement.

“Emwazi should have been tried as a war criminal.”

Emwazi came to notoriety in videos depicting the beheading of British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines and US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

He also appeared masked in videos showing the killings of US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig and Japanese journalists Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa.

Former prime minister Tony Blair claimed it was right to “take the fight” to Isis — and suggested the killing of Emwazi underlined the need for Britain to join US air strikes in Syria.

He made the comment at the launch of a new Middle East “peace initiative” in Jerusalem.